No safety net in the face of climate change: The case of pastoralists in Kunene Region, Namibia

Abstract

Over the past decade, pastoralists in Kunene Region, Namibia, have endured recurrent drought and flood events that have culminated in the loss of their primary form of livelihoodpastoralism. Most pastoralists are finding it difficult to sustain their livelihoods, and their communities have fallen into extreme poverty. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) approaches are increasingly acknowledged as having the potential to enhance the adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities. The first step is to develop an understanding of how affected communities live, their perceptions of and how they respond to climate change and the biophysical impacts of climate change in their communities. This study aims to collect this information in order to explore the use of EbA to help pastoralists adapt to climate change. We examined an isolated pastoral Himba community, to understand their perceptions, experiences and understanding of climate change and its related impacts on their livelihoods. A nested mixed-methods approach using structured interviews was employed to address the study objectives. Interview results revealed that pastoralists lack scientific knowledge of climate change, and they have no access to climate change information. Though pastoralists have coping and adaptation approaches at the community level (such as making gardens, fishing, etc.), these have become ineffective as climatic uncertainty and change persist. Furthermore, pastoralists no longer get benefits from the environment, such as food and fodder. Despite this, there are currently no biodiversity interventions at the community level to address the impacts of climate change. Pastoralists have indicated their adaptation needs, particularly the provision of water supply to grow food. This is an open avenue to explore EbA approaches, specifically ecological restoration, while still addressing the need of the pastoralists. There is an urgent need to develop new practical adaptation strategies, including restoration options that will strengthen their adaptive capacity.

Exploring the impact of climate change on the future of community‐based wildlife conservation

“…Rainfall is highly variable across the Kunene region, including within the borders of individual conservancies. However, pre‐survey interviewees in 2017 stated that a severe drought had lasted for over 3 years, and this severity and time period are generally consistent with both national news reports (Grobler, 2016) and academic literature (Inman et al, 2020; van Rensburg & Tortajada, 2021).…”

Cooperation in the Commons: Community-Based Rangeland Management in Namibia

“…Low-input management results in uncoordinated livestock grazing and overuse of local resources. Resource management in the NCAs is further complicated by climate change 12 . For example, climate change may increase the prevalence of drought and bush encroachment, which are already destabilizing the rangeland ecosystem in the NCAs 2,13 .…”

Leopard Panthera pardus camera trap surveys in the arid environments of northern Namibia

“…Another consequence was a noticeable degradation of the vegetation condition and thus grazing and browsing capacities (Verlinden and Kruger 2017;Inman et al 2020a). This degradation was intensified by continuous droughts (Masih et al 2014;Inman et al 2020b) and opening of water sources (Klintenberg and Verlinden 2008). Currently, in north-west Namibia, livestock numbers outweigh the estimated numbers of all the wildlife species combined and the areas where wildlife numbers dominate have low overall biomass due to their marginal arid character (Craig and Gibson 2016).…”