Namibia
Saving Namibia’s livestock (Part 1)
Background of Namibian Rangelands and the livestock industry
The Namibian livestock industry is in decline. There is a large-scale loss of palatable perennial grasses, widely spread bush encroachment, and Namibia is regarded as a country that will be severely affected by climate change. To counter this trend, the Department of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF), together with industry partners such as the Namibian Farmers’ Unions, initiated and developed an innovative rangeland policy that can annually add N$4 billion to the GDP if fully implemented. ProAgri BNZ will publish extracts from the policy document to make sure that all farmers understand this plan that can help them to survive the next drought.
P
oor rangeland management has resulted in the loss of highly palatable perennial grasses over most of Namibia’s 60 million hectares of rangeland where livestock is kept. 45 million hectares of this total rangeland accessed by livestock has been encroached by bush. Compared with the 1950s, many farms now require three times the area in order to sustain the same number of animals 34
due to this loss of perennial grass and increased bush. Bare ground is an important indicator of ecosystem health and productivity. A high bare ground percentage increases the risk of water run-off, water erosion, and high evaporation rates. This means that less water penetrates the soil, which jeopardises the growth of plants and the recharging of underground water
supplies. Bare ground is measured in September every year, when it is expected to be most pronounced. Map A shows that over the last 18 years bare ground has increased within Namibia. From 2015 to 2018, communal areas had, on average, the highest percentage of bare ground. Communal area bare ground was 14% higher than emerging farmer study units. In the same time frame,
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