Youth Leader's Take on Namibian Drought Crisis
Water and energy supplies remain critical restrictions to sustainable development. Existing water scarcity is being aggravated by the signs of climate change, namely, reduced rainfall in some areas, while in others an increase in temperatures. Climate change in Namibia has the potential to undermine natural resource-based sectors including agriculture, fisheries and the blossoming nature-based tourism sector. The increased incidents of drought and flood events will ensure continued adversity for the poorest segments of society – rural subsistence farmers – who are also challenged by land degradation.
Climatic variability is a common phenomenon in Namibia, where persistent droughts, unpredictable and variable rainfall and temperatures have become a norm. About 70% of Namibia’s population depend directly on subsistence agriculture (crop and livestock rearing), forestry, nature tourism, indigenous biodiversity and fisheries, which form the basis and backbone of the country’s economy. These resources are vulnerable and sensitive to the anthropogenic climate change, which is predicted to raise global air temperature by between roughly 2 and 5 °C, and alter regional rainfall patterns by the end of this century.
Pierre Le Bigot