The minister of urban and rural development recently advised us to have pregnant minds to deliver solutions.
I have long been pregnant with an answer to Namibia’s housing crisis. The time has come to labour and push these ideas out for national consideration.
Namibia has grappled with a housing crisis for more than two decades, driven largely by rapid urbanisation and the painfully slow delivery of affordable, serviced land.
We know the problem intimately. We have quantified it through the national baseline on informal settlements led by the Namibia Statistics Agency.
Yet delivery of solutions at scale eludes us. The technical expertise exists. Yet the problem persists. And grows.
Most informal settlements across Namibia have limited or no security of tenure.
Research shows that improved tenure security acts as a catalyst – not only for individual investment in land and housing, but for broader economic growth through more efficient land markets.
Efficient land administration systems, built on fit-for-purpose methodologies, are essential to scaling housing delivery in Namibia.
Best practices and proven methodologies exist, tested in both developed and developing country contexts.
Fit-for-purpose is self-explanatory: implementing systems tailored to specific problems facing land administration institutions.
SKEWED PLANNING
In Namibia, land administration is heavily skewed toward town planning; a legitimate function, but which operates with surprisingly little emphasis on securing tenure.
When planning for low-income communities, tenure security must be the foundational response: it must come before planning, not after.
This requires a clear understanding of who needs land, where they are located, and what they can realistically afford relative to available housing solutions.
Academic institutions hold part of the answer.
Through partnerships with the International Federation of Surveyors, researchers at the Namibia University of Science and Technology have studied, tested and applied fit-for-purpose solutions in Namibian contexts.
The time is now ripe to formalise these partnerships with the government and communities, ensuring that lessons learned are responsible, sustainable and scalable.
There are five pillars on which a scaled fit-for-purpose land administration response should rest.
These are summarised from a workshop by experts from the International Federation of Surveyors working group on promoting fit-for-purpose land administration globally.
COMMON COMMITMENT
First, sustained political will. Technical solutions can only be implemented at scale if driven by genuine political commitment.
Governance must support innovative, cost-effective and implementable solutions, and decisions about land certification must be evidence-based.
Securing land tenure is among the least expensive interventions available, yet it remains one of the most difficult to coordinate.
It is, nonetheless, the catalyst for housing delivery. People need an enabling environment to bring their own solutions to the table.
Second, strengthened collaboration and partnerships not only at country-to-country or multilateral levels but, critically, at local level.
Municipalities, village councils and town councils must deepen their partnerships with universities and the private sector – not only for capital projects but for capacity building and the transfer of technical expertise.
We grow and improve by learning from one another.
Professional bodies need to scale up their community development contributions at local level; private sector budgeting on corporate social responsibility needs to reflect the needs of the most poor and ultra-low-income Namibians.
Third, land administration teams must be equipped to respond to changing contexts, emerging technologies, and evolving community needs.
TECH TRACTION
Fourth, deploying the best available technology that is appropriate, affordable and user-centred. User satisfaction and cost-effectiveness should guide all technology procurement decisions.
Fit-for-purpose systems, particularly those incorporating open-source applications and community-adopted platforms, can help institutions avoid prohibitive software costs and allow users to up-skill continuously.
This raises a critical concern: Namibia cannot pursue digitalisation without simultaneously investing in the cybersecurity literacy of all users.
Adopting artificial intelligence across Namibian institutions is possible and desirable but it must not come at the cost of alienating those who lack familiarity with digital systems.
Fifth, long-term sustainability. Projects must outlast the leaders who champion them. The measure of success must be visible.
Tangible improved water and sewer reticulation at household level, for instance, is a measurable indicator that land administration reform can translate into quality of life.
IT IS POSSIBLE
An operationalised land administration system using fit-for-purpose methodologies, grounded in geographic information systems that incorporate open-source applications, can overcome cost and affordability barriers that have historically stalled progress.
Housing delivery at scale requires a system with near-complete command over critical information: who needs and who has housing; where occupied land is located; who holds rights to that land; what that land is worth; what infrastructure and services exist in proximity; and what smart, user-centred solutions can be built on that foundation.
Our policy environment is more enabling than many realise.
From the National Housing Policy of 2023 to the Water Resources Management Act 2013, our legislative framework has evolved to created institutions that can be operated differently.
We cannot resolve the housing crisis by using old and failed approaches.
Land administration is complex but not beyond improvement. What it requires, above all, is a government administration that places the land user at the centre of its purpose, technocrats who can admit that the old ways are not solving problems, and the political and institutional courage to finally deliver.
* Menare Royal Mabakeng is a land administration lecturer and researcher passionate about people-centred development. The views expressed here are her own.
