usaid/nambia environmental threats and opportunities assessment

3. ANALYSIS OF MAJOR WEAKNESSES AND THREATS
MAJOR THREAT 1. INAPPROPRIATE SUBSIDIZATION, UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS, AND
POLITICIZATION OF LAND
Little can be changed in the climate and soil situation, so the challenge is to adapt rangeland practices to
suit them. Subsidization in pre-Independence times (focused on white commercial farmers) and which
are being continued under the present regime (focused on black communal and commercial farmers) lie
at the root of overstocking, bush encroachment, and declining rangeland productivity.
Politicization of the land issue goes hand in hand with unrealistic expectations from land. Under the
Land Reform Program, resettlement farms are expected to help poor and emerging farmers become
productive, but the conditions in which such group and individual resettlement farmers are placed –
small parcels of land, with little follow-on support for infrastructure and management needs – has led to
most of these being failures (Werner & Odendaal 2010).
MAJOR THREAT 2. RANGELAND POLICY FAILURE
The extension of ownership rights over wildlife to rural residents is a welcome improvement in the
policy framework, but needs to be extended further. Forestry and non-timber forest and woodland
products are beginning to benefit from this now. However, the greatest need is for improving the ability
of rural residents to manage their pastures and rangelands better.
At the moment, rangelands in communal areas “belong to everyone, and are managed by no-one.” Illegal
privatization of rangelands is not prevented or controlled, even though the National Land Policy called a
moratorium on this practice in 1995. The Land Policy promised to resolve the issue of tenure rights over
rangeland, but this has not yet occurred and it continues to be a root cause of declining productivity of
communal rangelands.
MAJOR THREAT 3. MARKETING CONSTRAINTS
The Red Line effectively separates Namibia into a southern section where marketing for international
export is possible and facilitated, and a northern section where veterinary restrictions are so tight that
marketing is negligible. As shown above, only 6% of Namibia’s agricultural output comes from the
communal areas, most of which lie north of the Red Line.
While moving the Red Line to the northern border of Namibia (hand-in-hand with careful
implementation of veterinary controls) will remove the main obstacle to improved marketing, it is not
certain whether cattle marketing will dramatically increase. Cultural values attached to cattle ownership
also make people reluctant to sell their livestock.
MAJOR THREAT 4. TRANSBOUNDARY LIVESTOCK DISEASES
The main threat of livestock diseases jeopardizing the meat export market originate in Namibia’s
northern neighbours, notably Angola and Zambia. Foot and Mouth Disease and Contagious Bovine
Pleuropneumonia are both found in these countries, and it is very difficult to prevent movements of
cattle from those countries into Namibia when the international boundary is only a cut line through the
bush. Significantly, Namibia also experienced a recent outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in the south, which
probably originated from South Africa. While veterinary controls on livestock are very strict, especially
with regard to moving animals and monitoring of herd health at local level, the risks of diseases being
brought in illegally and causing an outbreak are very high.
USAID/NAMIBIA ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES ASSESSMENT 67