Windhoek
The 19th National Rangeland Forum has been scheduled for September 15 to 17 in Otjiwarongo, with speakers from Australia, South Africa and Namibia addressing the theme: “adapting to climate unpredictability and climate change along the whole value chain”.
The programme starts on September 15 with a farm visit to Farm Agagia of Hendrik Botha, after which the conference will commence at 14h00 at Out of Africa Lodge in Otjiwarongo.
The conference will close with farm visits to Farm Middelplaats of Uwe Kahl and Farm Okosongoro of Peter Clausen. The total registration fee is N$300. For further enquiries contact Roelie Venter, Tel 061 237838, Roelie@agrinamibia.com.na or Marie-Louise Wimo, Tel 061 237838, marie@agrinamibia.com.na.
This year’s Forum comes in the wake of growing international concern about climate change, especially after the launch of Naomi Klein, the Canadian author, filmmaker, social activist, and author of No Logo and The Shock Doctrine’s new book, This Changes Everything. The book speaks directly to some of the dilemmas facing Namibian rangelands in the face of climate change, while the country remains in the grip of consecutive droughts.
Last week, the implementation of the National Rangeland Strategy was introduced to the Cabinet Committee on Trade and Economic Development under the chairmanship of Minister of National Planning, Tom Alweendo. A delegation of the Rangeland Implementation Committee under the leadership of the Directorate of Forestry made a submission to the committee in mid-August.
The aim of the visit was to inform the committee about the activities of the Implementation Coordination Unit under the leadership of Roelie Venter, as well as the progress that has been made to date with the implementation of the strategy, which started on April 1, 2015.
It further aims, in terms of the National Rangeland Strategy, to introduce the importance of the Namibian rangeland on national level, to explain the rangeland principles as contained in the Strategy to the ministries which are involved with rangeland such as Agriculture, Environment & Tourism and Land Reform, to convince Cabinet to create a conducive policy environment for the implementation of the Rangeland Strategy as well as to declare the negative effect of bush encroachment on the Namibian rangeland as a national priority.
The Cabinet Committee expressed concern mainly about the effect of bush encroachment and again emphasised that strategies must be found to address this problem. They also invited the Rangeland Advisory Committee to make proposals on how government can support these initiatives as soon as they have been developed.
At last year’s forum a grant of N$11.6 million from the European Union (EU) was announced to kick-start the implementation of the country’s first National Rangeland Management Policy and Strategy (NRMPS) that could change the face of rangeland management in arid Namibia forever.
The multi-million dollar project was approved by the government in 2012 and its multi-faceted programme will be implemented over four years. It will consist of a Rangeland Advisory Committee and a Rangeland Coordinating Unit, with the Namibian Rangeland and Bush Encroachment Forum as the overarching body.
This year a UN delegation will be present again and feedback will be given about six projects, which are in the process of being financed by the EU. These include, inter alia, the establishment of a coordinating unit under the grant, which has been made by the EU to the NAU (Namibia Agricultural Union) for the implementation of the National Rangeland Policy and Strategy.
Most of the projects relate the management and improvement of rangeland, the effects of climate change and combating de-forestation.
The programme officer of the EU delegation, Laura Imbuwa, is excited about the overall goal of the project. She says this EU-funded action will enhance the speedy implementation of the NRMPS amongst all natural rangeland users in Namibia, improve rangeland condition and resilience, as well as reduce the vulnerability of rural resource users to the impacts of climate change, drought and desertification.
Mecki Schneider, chairperson of the Livestock Producers Organisation (LPO), says the specific objective of the initiative is to effectively and efficiently coordinate the implementation of the NRMPS at national and regional levels.
He stresses the importance of government carrying on with the project after the initial four years to enable Namibian farmers to practise good rangeland management, as the country has a relatively low and highly variable rainfall, together with a decline in rangeland productivity per hectare, bush encroachment and soil erosion.
“These challenges are further increased by climate change,” he notes. Another project is the Rangeland and Marketing Development Support Project, in which the lead applicant is the Meatco Foundation and the co-applicant is Co-operative Agriculture Namibia. The six regional areas include Kunene North, Omusati, Oshana, Ohangwena, Oshikoto and Kavango East and West, and the project duration will be thirty months.
The project hopes to improve the active involvement of key regional players in all seven regions to climate adaption activities through implementation of regionally appropriate responses, improved uptake and application of best practice rangeland management policies, improved herd production, improved marketing options and more receptive sellers in at least 30 grazing areas.
Other issues to be addressed include increased awareness of best cropping practices, the development of synergies with croplands and livestock, as well as local level land-use planning, grass poaching, fire control and other key issues that affect livestock and rangelands.
Both initiatives hope to train and expose key stakeholders through regional meetings to agree on locally appropriate key messages and material for rangeland, livestock, marketing, cropping and local land-use planning.