Namibia ‘already feeling effects of climate change’

HIS own observation has led Prime Minister Nahas Angula to conclude that climate change is real and its effects are already being felt in Namibia.

Addressing a training workshop on managing climate change in Windhoek on Monday, Angula said although he was not an environmental expert, he had seen changes in the environment, especially in the North, where he grew up. “In that part of the country oshanas or floodplains are no longer supporting the same type of vegetation that used to grow there a few decades ago, especially thatch grass, which is vital for our rural communities,” Angula told the four-day workshop for managers of United Nations agencies in Africa.Angula said oshanas now harbour unproductive alien invasive species.In addition, there have been shifts in rainfall patterns.”For example, instead of the rains coming in September or October, they now come in January or February,” he said.To survive the changes, rural communities should adjust and change their planting patterns, he said.”Simple, yet complicated,” the Prime Minister said.Namibia is very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of its arid environment and its reliance on farming and fishing.Most at risk are agriculture, water, coastal zones and marine resources.Angula said if climate change was not addressed in Namibia, groundwater resources would decline, affecting crop and livestock farming.According to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, some of the measures that people can take to adapt to climate change are to prevent losses – for example by building barriers against rising sea levels – reducing losses by redesigning crop mixes to ensure guaranteed yields under even the worst conditions, or to share the burden by implementing government disaster relief programmes.These measures are contained in a booklet, ‘Namibia and Climate Change’.An adaptation project has been developed with the Country Pilot Partnership for Sustainable Land Use Management and focuses on adapting agriculture in the north-central regions.The workshop is discussing climate change mitigation, risk management and sustainable human development in Africa.It is hosted by the UN Development Programme in Namibia.”In that part of the country oshanas or floodplains are no longer supporting the same type of vegetation that used to grow there a few decades ago, especially thatch grass, which is vital for our rural communities,” Angula told the four-day workshop for managers of United Nations agencies in Africa.Angula said oshanas now harbour unproductive alien invasive species.In addition, there have been shifts in rainfall patterns.”For example, instead of the rains coming in September or October, they now come in January or February,” he said.To survive the changes, rural communities should adjust and change their planting patterns, he said.”Simple, yet complicated,” the Prime Minister said.Namibia is very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of its arid environment and its reliance on farming and fishing.Most at risk are agriculture, water, coastal zones and marine resources.Angula said if climate change was not addressed in Namibia, groundwater resources would decline, affecting crop and livestock farming.According to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, some of the measures that people can take to adapt to climate change are to prevent losses – for example by building barriers against rising sea levels – reducing losses by redesigning crop mixes to ensure guaranteed yields under even the worst conditions, or to share the burden by implementing government disaster relief programmes.These measures are contained in a booklet, ‘Namibia and Climate Change’.An adaptation project has been developed with the Country Pilot Partnership for Sustainable Land Use Management and focuses on adapting agriculture in the north-central regions.The workshop is discussing climate change mitigation, risk management and sustainable human development in Africa.It is hosted by the UN Development Programme in Namibia.