AS a country highly dependent on agriculture and especially lifestock farming, it has become a matter of urgency to recover the productive capacity of our land.
In Namibia, including the Erongo Region, desertification has already had a devastating impact.These remarks were made by the Governor of the Erongo Region, Samuel Nuuyoma, at Omatjete on Thursday.He said food security is threatened by desertification and biodiversity loss everywhere in the world. ‘We are concerned as such that information and knowledge on desertification becomes essential to be shared with all at all levels. Gone are the days where only a few could be allowed to make decisions for masses without adequate consultations and consent. Food shortages due to desertification affects everyone and therefore collective decision making on counter actions are inevitable,’ Nuuyoma said.He made the remarks at the country’s World Day to Combat Desertification celebrations held at the villages some 60km from Omaruru.The event was organised by the Namibia Country Pilot Partnership Programme (CPP). This United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiative resorts under the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.At the occasion, a speech was also read on behalf of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in which he called for a focus on the links between biodiversity, land and climate change. He said that the human, environmental and social vulnerability come together with unusual force and symmetry in the world’s drylands. ‘Climate change will only exacerbate such pressures.’Nuuyoma further said that a problem can only be solved once one actually realises that there is a problem. ‘Only then we can focus our energies on possible solutions.’In the 2009 CPP annual report, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwa, the Minister of Environment and Tourism said last year was ‘a year of significant progress. It saw the production of [amongst others] a climate change community information tool kit [and] increased awareness on strategies of how to adapt to climate change’.
