THE first week of the 11th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification has ended, and the discussions thus far have been productive as well as educating, especially for Namibia which finds itself battling with the worst drought experienced in the last decades.
It is worth noting that the conference is indeed aware that land degradation directly affects 1.5 billion people globally, and participants have a genuine interest to come up with combative measures against the advancing deserts and introduce sustainable measures to cope with droughts.
A total of 24 billion tons of fertile soil is lost every year due to cropland erosion, whilst another 12 million hectares fall prey to drought and desertification. Some 27 000 species of flora and fauna are lost each year due to land degradation. Billions of people around the world depend for their livelihoods on the natural environment in which they live. Addressing those challenges requires the Conference of Parties to speedily implement the agreements reached at Rio +20, in Rio de Janeiro last year.
It also requires countries, and African countries have received flack for this, to pump money into projects that tackle desertification. Land degradation has a direct influence on poverty levels, and with an increasing land degradation, compounded by drought, the poverty rates are only poised for an alarming increase.
It is heartening to hear the commendations from the distinguished delegates at the conference that Namibia is among very few African countries leading efforts to develop and operationalise a strong drought risk management policy. Namibians should feel proud of government’s pro-active efforts in this regard and the fact that we are now cited as a model because of the country’s ability to adapt to an ecosystem which is prone to drought.
However, this should not distract us from the fight against desertification, especially that experts at the conference attribute certain elements that worsen the current drought in Namibia to “man-made” problems that could have been tackled earlier. Namibian researchers and environmentalists need to take lessons learned seriously and apply sustainable practices to mitigate land degradation and desertification in order to prevent future occurrences.
While Namibian academic minds – the environmentalists, scientists, conservationists, civil society organisations – all take this gathering seriously, it is sad to note the absence of young scholars. Namibian students in the science and technology fields are not present at this very important event. Their presence would ensure that Namibia does not have to rely on foreign skill and expertise to deal with land degradation. After all desertification is an ongoing battle that will continue besieging the world for decades to come.
Recent analysis suggests that an increase in global warming could reduce the world’s ability to cope with drought and pose a serious disruption to the world’s food supply system. It would have been good to have students take a keen interest in these discussions for the sake of decisions the country has to make in future.
By The Editor