Absalom Shigwedha
2 October 2008
President Hifikepunye Pohamba says if Namibia does not protect its environment, its agricultural yields will drop and it will experience more severe floods and soil erosion.
This was spelled out by the President in a speech, read on his behalf by the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr Albert Kawana, to launch the 10-year Country Pilot Partnership for Integrated Sustainable Land Management programme - aimed at reversing land degradation in Namibia.
"We cannot talk about land use without talking about protecting the environment.
Therefore, all our ecosystems must be protected," said Pohamba.
He said the programme should pay attention to environmental sustainability, food security, improved production and empowerment of rural communities.
The President said the programme should introduce specific interventions, including improved soil fertility, improved access to quality seeds, water management, strategies to adapt to climate change, promotion of sustainable land-use practices and diversification of production systems.
"These measures are necessary to ensure food security, accelerate economic growth, increase productivity and improve the living standards of our people," he said.
Pohamba added that Namibians should bear in mind that arable land is diminishing.
"As a matter of fact, changing weather patterns and population growth expansion are increasing pressure on the available arable land.
Therefore, we need to embrace sustainable practices, including technological innovations that will enable farmers to achieve higher yields per unit area," he said.
For the first five years, the programme will target the Otjozondjupa, Kavango, Caprivi and Oshana regions.
The Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) is the key implementing agency.
The programme will try to reverse land degradation by building up national and regional institutions and by promoting good farming practices in the most affected areas, such as communal farms, conservancies and resettlement farms.
Also at the launch, Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said land degradation poses a serious constraint to food security and to economic development in developing countries including Namibia.
She said it is projected that more than half of all cultivated agricultural land in Africa could be unusable by the year 2050 if land degradation continues at the current pace.
The CPP-ISLM programme is joint initiative between the Ministry of Environment, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The GEF provided funding of US$9 million while the World Bank contributed US$1 million.
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