Windhoek — Inhabitants of the Omaheke region feel that 16 years after Namibia got its independence, poverty related factors have gotten worse. And with increases in prices of goods and services, the future does not look promising either.

These are feelings of the inhabitants as documented in the Omaheke Regional Poverty Profile, which indicates that one in every four people in the region live in extreme poverty.

The inhabitants defined poverty in the profile as the condition of earning, having and owning close to nothing and depending on other people for one's day to day livelihood.

They say the rise in goods and services, school fees and water has made the outlook grim. Some of these services such as diesel, free education and water during previous years were given out to inhabitants for free, which is no longer the case.

Communities in the region say with access to water that time, they could produce their own food from vegetable gardens, something they cannot do anymore.

They also say the provision of education was better off before independence as schools had good standards and were run well, books and learning aids were provided for free, while school fees was reasonable.

"Nothing seems to be happening at schools at all nowadays," the profile quotes the communities.

In addition, they see the education system as being devalued by the fact that learners who fail are no longer allowed to repeat.

The communities also feel that many people have lost jobs, unlike in the past where many were employed through the contract labour system. Now, farmers prefer to employ a small core group of permanent employees and rely on short-term seasonal contracts as dictated by the workload on their farms.

Other factors that have worsened since Independence, cite the inhabitants, are substance and alcohol abuse, violence and criminal activities and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

According to the profile, which was launched on Tuesday in Gobabis by National Planning Commission Director General Helmut Angula, the human poverty index for the region is 32 percent, while that of the country is 24.7 percent.

However, the only thing that the communities deem as having decreased and that is likely to disappear is social exclusion, which they say was high before independence when there was political alienation by the colonial regime.

"Conditions had largely improved upon independence, when discriminatory practices were outlawed. The trend was for socially excluding practices to diminish and interracial relations to improve," the profile quotes the communities.

While farm workers in the profile are largely described as poor due to low wages, and their inability to pay for essential commodities, peri-urban poverty is associated with the lack of employment opportunities.

In addition to lack of employment and poor remuneration, the inhabitants also identified insufficient knowledge or skills and the resultant use of assets, environmental affairs and factors such as drought, predation and poisonous plants as well as having too many children or dependants which put households in a risky position as far as poverty is concerned.

As coping strategies, people engage in different activities such as participating in government and Roads Authority's food for work programmes, bartering casual or manual labour in exchange for cash, food, water, money and traditional alcohol, begging for assistance and borrowing money.

Other ways in which communities cope with poverty are harvesting and selling firewood, fencing and thatching grass and medicinal plants, collecting Acacia pods to sell to commercial farmers, while the San collect and gather wild fruits for consumption.

In worst circumstances though, people in the region resort to stealing livestock, going to jail and poaching as coping strategies.

"Poor people considered stealing as a coping strategy. Hence, livestock theft, simply to satisfy the hunger of impoverished community members, was common in Omaheke's rural communities," says the profile, adding that some considered jail as a coping strategy as they would get three meals a day.

Launching the profile this week, Angula said finding ways of reducing poverty and inequality was a daunting task for decision makers both at local, regional and national levels. The diversity of poverty was one of the most important aspects of poverty because of not only the lack of goods and services for consumption but also deprivation of choices most basic for human development.

"These are the opportunities to lead a long healthy, creative life and enjoy a decent standard of living, freedom, dignity and self esteem," Angula said, adding: "Together with the global community, we have a duty to address the sufferings of poor and marginalised people in our communities and we cannot fail."