San conservancy ‘at risk’

MARGINALISED San communities living in the Tsumkwe West area are in danger of losing a proclaimed conservancy area of 10 000 square kilometres.

Plans are in the pipeline to carve up the area into small-scale farms for resettlement. During a recent visit to Tsumkwe, Lands Minister Jerry Ekandjo told people that Government planned to push ahead with the smallscale farming project, sparking widespread concern that people from other rural areas might be settled there.People who attended that meeting told The Namibian that Ekandjo was allegedly not in favour of the San people’s plans for a conservancy, where they have already set up a community camp and a private campsite to earn an income from tourism.A private wildlife trust has also donated game to the conservancy.”The Minister told us that we, the San, came from Angola and were fighting with the Boers against Swapo freedom fighters before Independence,” one eyewitness told The Namibian.”He made it clear we were only settled in the Tsumkwe area since the liberation struggle ended and who were we to say what to do with the land,” the eyewitness added.COMMUNITIES UNHAPPY On June 22 2006, Deputy Lands Minister Katali met with Chief Jan Arnold and the N#a Jaqna Conservancy development team at Tsumkwe and informed them that Government would like to develop small-scale farms in the Tsumkwe West area.According to the minutes, and those of several follow-up meetings, the communities are opposed to the farms and want to press ahead with developing their conservancy.When approached for comment yesterday, Ekandjo told The Namibian that a committee had now been established to look into the San land issue.”We had a meeting today (Monday) together with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and that of Agriculture.There might possibly have been a lack of consultation on the issue and some overlapping of functions,” he said.”Cabinet approved the submission of our ministry in 2001 regarding small-scale farming there, but also approved the MET submission for the N#a Jaqna Conservancy in 2003 as well as a later submission by the Agriculture Ministry for a community forest within that conservancy.”The newly established committee would be led by the permanent secretaries of all three line ministries to find an amicable solution, Ekandjo said.The Namibian has established that a company, International Development Corporation (IDC) did a land-use assessment back in 2000 and recommended small-scale farming in the area, where the San community has, since 1996, tried to get the N?a Jaqna conservancy proclaimed.Another conservancy south of N?a Jaqna and Nyae Nyae – in the Gam area, bordering on the Omaheke Region – is also still waiting to be gazetted.According to the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (Wimsa), there is not enough ground water in the area to sustain livestock, especially cattle.Over-grazing would endanger the traditional way of life, even the survival, of local San families.”It would undermine work to reintroduce game animals, which will bring in large income to the Conservancy from hunting,” Wimsa said in a recent statement.Earlier this year, Government gazetted a community forest within the N?a Jaqna Conservancy to benefit residents with support from the German government.Five such forests were in the pipeline, Wimsa co-ordinator Joram /Useb told The Namibian.According to /Useb, the N#a Jaqna conservancy members are still waiting for approval from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Lands Ministry for management plans, which they submitted in 2003.”We have sent several letters to both ministries inquiring when we will get the approval, the last one in 2005, but we had no response,” /Useb said last week.* Last week a German government financial institution, Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW), signed a N$37 million agreement with the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement for infrastructure development in communal areas.At the signing ceremony, Permanent Secretary Frans Sheehama said one of the areas would be the Eiseb Block in the Otjozondjupa Region.He did not say that poor soil for crop farming, lack of water and the abundance of the poison-leaf plant would hamper viable farming activities and that the area would be far better suited for wildlife and tourism.The Namibian has learnt that part of Germany’s funds would also be used to survey small farms in the N?a Jaqna Conservancy of the San, which has 2 000 members.The Eiseb Block lies south of the existing N?a Jaqna Conservancy and the adjacent Nyae Nyae Conservancy, which are situated south of the Khaudum Game Park.Nyae Nyae was the first conservancy proclaimed – in February 1998 – and it benefits about 1 000 San members who derive an income from tourism and trophy hunting.The KfW representative Christof Kessler, who signed the agreement last week, met with the community on November 4 at Tsumkwe, to tell them that he saw “no problem” with KfW money being used for a community forest in the N?a Jaqna Conservancy and “from the same pocket to support land reform”.”The Ministry of Lands said there are communal land boards where everything is discussed,” Kessler told the meeting, according to the written minutes obtained by The Namibian.During a recent visit to Tsumkwe, Lands Minister Jerry Ekandjo told people that Government planned to push ahead with the smallscale farming project, sparking widespread concern that people from other rural areas might be settled there.People who attended that meeting told The Namibian that Ekandjo was allegedly not in favour of the San people’s plans for a conservancy, where they have already set up a community camp and a private campsite to earn an income from tourism.A private wildlife trust has also donated game to the conservancy.”The Minister told us that we, the San, came from Angola and were fighting with the Boers against Swapo freedom fighters before Independence,” one eyewitness told The Namibian.”He made it clear we were only settled in the Tsumkwe area since the liberation struggle ended and who were we to say what to do with the land,” the eyewitness added.COMMUNITIES UNHAPPY On June 22 2006, Deputy Lands Minister Katali met with Chief Jan Arnold and the N#a Jaqna Conservancy development team at Tsumkwe and informed them that Government would like to develop small-scale farms in the Tsumkwe West area.According to the minutes, and those of several follow-up meetings, the communities are opposed to the farms and want to press ahead with developing their conservancy.When approached for comment yesterday, Ekandjo told The Namibian that a committee had now been established to look into the San land issue.”We had a meeting today (Monday) together with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and that of Agriculture.There might possibly have been a lack of consultation on the issue and some overlapping of functions,” he said. “Cabinet approved the submission of our ministry in 2001 regarding small-scale farming there, but also approved the MET submission for the N#a Jaqna Conservancy in 2003 as well as a later submission by the Agriculture Ministry for a community forest within that conservancy.”The newly established committee would be led by the permanent secretaries of all three line ministries to find an amicable solution, Ekandjo said.The Namibian has established that a company, International Development Corporation (IDC) did a land-use assessment back in 2000 and recommended small-scale farming in the area, where the San community has, since 1996, tried to get the N?a Jaqna conservancy proclaimed.Another conservancy south of N?a Jaqna and Nyae Nyae – in the Gam area, bordering on the Omaheke Region – is also still waiting to be gazetted.According to the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (Wimsa), there is not enough ground water in the area to sustain livestock, especially cattle.Over-grazing would endanger the traditional way of life, even the survival, of local San families.”It would undermine work to reintroduce game animals, which will bring in large income to the Conservancy from hunting,” Wimsa said in a recent statement.Earlier this year, Government gazetted a community forest within the N?a Jaqna Conservancy to benefit residents with support from the German government.Five such forests were in the pipeline, Wimsa co-ordinator Joram /Useb told The Namibian.According to /Useb, the N#a Jaqna conservancy members are still waiting for approval from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Lands Ministry for management plans, which they submitted in 2003.”We have sent several letters to both ministries inquiring when we will get the approval, the last one in 2005, but we had no response,” /Useb said last week.* Last week a German government financial institution, Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW), signed a N$37 million agreement with the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement for infrastructure development in communal areas.At the signing ceremony, Permanent Secretary Frans Sheehama said one of the areas would be the Eiseb Block in the Otjozondjupa Region.He did not say that poor soil for crop farming, lack of water and the abundance of the poison-leaf plant would hamper viable farming activities and that the area would be far better suited for wildlife and tourism.The Namibian has learnt that part of Germany’s funds would also be used to survey small farms in the N?a Jaqna Conservancy of the San, which has 2 000 members.The Eiseb Block lies south of the existing N?a Jaqna Conservancy and the adjacent Nyae Nyae Conservancy, which are situated south of the Khaudum Game Park.Nyae Nyae was the first conservancy proclaimed – in February 1998 – and it benefits about 1 000 San members who derive an income from tourism and trophy hunting.The KfW representative Christof Kessler, who signed the agreement last week, met with the community on November 4 at Tsumkwe, to tell them that he saw “no problem” with KfW money being used for a community forest in the N?a Jaqna Conservancy and “from the same pocket to support land reform”.”The Ministry of Lands said there are communal land boards where everything is discussed,” Kessler told the meeting, according to the written minutes obtained by The Namibian.