Namibia - DRR
Namibian farmers reduce disaster and climate change risks
 For small-scale farmers in the Omusati region of Namibia, local climate change adaptation (CCA) is not an abstract concept but a way of life. Having adapted for many years to harsh climatic conditions, the people of Omusati saw it as a necessity to improve their own understanding, and to develop fitting information materials that are suitable to the farmers and also speak directly to local environmental conditions. In 2005, they partnered with the UNDP office in Namibia and sought support from the Global Environment Facility to pilot innovative ways of developing local CCA strategies. Many of these strategies are now being implemented.
Namibia faces serious climate change impacts—higher temperatures, drier conditions, and increasingly frequent and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. Already in the northern parts of Namibia rainy seasons are following unexpected patterns, with onset of the planting and growing seasons changing. Increased floods and droughts will further challenge livestock and crop productivity, negatively impacting livelihoods of poor, small-scale farmers. Climatic conditions are highly variable, and the uncertainty already inherent to Namibia’s climate is expected to become more pronounced and difficult to manage. Over the past two years northern Namibia has been challenged by the most severe flood events recorded in more than four decades. Ecosystems and human management systems have naturally adapted to the highly variable climatic conditions, but climate change impacts such as the 2008-2009 flash floods are exceptional and hard to manage.
Recognizing that climate change is a global problem requiring local action, the first activity chosen by the Omusati communities was to develop an information toolkit for the people of the region. (The region consists of 12 constituencies, with a population of 228,842, comprised of 37,822 households with an average household size of 5.9 people.) About 62 percent of the households are headed by women. The toolkit, locally known as “Natse otweya,” details what climate change is; what strategies exist; what options are available; and how to develop, plan, and invest in local CCA strategies and actions. With the toolkit, the farmers, including both women and men, are empowered to explain and share information on climate change with their children, peers and other communities. The toolkit is helping local agricultural extension workers to keep the climate change focus on local environmental conditions.
 Small-scale farmers now participate in climate change preparedness workshops and utilize the toolkit to develop adaptation options relevant to their area: planting crop varieties that are well-adapted to more extreme conditions; shifting from livestock to wildlife-based production systems via the local conservancies; adapting the crop choices from season to season and adjusting seeding materials and planting times to those of projected weather patterns. Another strategy relates to identifying key infrastructure and development investments that require “climate change-proofing”; these can be roads, dams, or buildings depending on the constituency.
The toolkit complements existing—though sometimes inadequate—early warning systems. Information is an important tool in the context of climate change, where there is high uncertainty. UNDP efforts in Namibia are helping to tackle the problem of limited access to information materials at local level, where it matters most.
—Lebogang Motlana. Art by Nicky Marais
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