The Namibian livestock industry is in decline. There is a large-scale loss of palatable perennial grasses, widely spread bush encroachment, and Namibia is regarded as a country that will be severely affected by climate change.

To counter this trend, the Department of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF), together with industry partners such as the Namibian Farmers’ Union, initiated and developed an innovative rangeland policy that can annually add N$4 billion to the GDP if fully implemented.

ProAgri BNZ will publish extracts from the policy document to make sure that all farmers understand this plan that can help them to survive the next drought.

The best practices presented in this section are intended to give an idea of methods available and how they have been applied.

Case study 5: Landscape rehydration

Improving raindrop capture and reducing landscape incision

A healthy land supports a healthy community and a prosperous economy, but a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and if soil cannot properly capture rain, it can cause serious breakage. In the Kunene region, in particular, many rangelands are increasingly not able to hold rain water, intensifying droughts and retarding recovery. Sealed, bare soil surfaces are spreading and joining up, while dongas are forming and expanding with every major rain event.

Water is flowing faster in landscapes that are vulnerable to gullying, and wider plane areas (sheet flows) are vulnerable to fragmentation. “Raindrops are hurting the land, not refreshing it, and self-healing is rare. With increasing torrents of precious raindrops, topsoil is lost and with it goes water and food security as well as economic prospects and social and cultural cohesion,” says Hugh Pringle from Ecosystem Management Understanding (EMU™) at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (See Photo 1).

Through the use of available resources, these problems are already being addressed, with good success, by keeping rainwater where it falls. “Through the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Use (SASSCAL), the Task 41 landscape literacy initiative, funded by Germany, has been working as a team to build awareness of declining soil moisture balances and rain use efficiency, and building grassroot approaches in a cultural context to rehydrate the Kunene rangelands.

This region is clearly the most severely affected by landscape incision and excessive run-off in the country. However, the problem extends from the Orange River to the Kunene and Okavango Rivers. It is a nationally threatening process to the goals and targets of the Namibian government,” Hugh explained.

To slow down the speed of water flow, tree branch filters were used from bush encroacher tree species such as Acacia mellifera and Terminalia prunioides. This resulted in deposition of sediments such as sand and the trapping of leaf litter. Water can thus infiltrate and recharge underground water that assists in rebuilding the soil in dongas (See Photo 2).

Cattle can be used to trample gully heads (See Photo 3). Implementation to deter soil degradation started in October 2013 in the Erora area as a trial, and was expanded to Otjitunganane in November 2014, and later to Otjijarua. Work is done with the participation of the communities so that they can take ownership of land restoration.

“We have infused scientific principles with the knowledge of local land culture to build an understanding and capacity by utilising EMU™ and CAN principles. In this ethical engagement, we have promoted successful local innovation and ownership and restored groundwater aquifers that are critical to communities and livestock, as well as sheet flooding processes previously captured by the old main road from Windhoek. Dongas are becoming depositional rather than erosional, and perennial grasses are establishing to provide enduring and self-healing landscapes,” said Hugh.

This initiative works hand-in-hand with rangeland management practices such as strategically planned grazing, resting of areas, and creating awareness in communities to avoid the development of new nick points like roads on slopes or deep cattle paths (See Photo 4).

So far, success has been experienced with gullies filling up and spilling over, and scientific results show that soil moisture is improving significantly. Small positive effects are seen in grass density, gully depths and wood density (See Photo 5).

“A healthy water cycle enhances livelihood and the soil must provide a soft landing for raindrops, and infiltration must be promoted through adequate soil cover. Loss of water and soil erosion contributes to food insecurity and bare ground leads to erosion,” said Hugh (See Photo 6).

“Vital to this approach has been the implementation of holistic planned grazing, based on combined herd grazing, to achieve critical recovery times. Despite the prevailing drought, we have achieved significant outcomes that indicate the effectiveness of our approach in building capacity and demonstrating natural resource outcomes. Our creative collaboration offers much nationally to rehydrate rangelands and communities, putting them in a better position to adapt to and even mitigate climate change locally,” Hugh explained.

The rest of the case studies will be discussed in the next edition.

*The National Rangeland Management Policy (NRMP) was approved in 2012. In 2014, the NRMPS Project was commissioned in support of this policy under the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF), to address the declining natural resource base in Namibia.

Extract from Reviving Namibia’s Livestock Industry, Regenerative Livestock Production Trends, Key Profit Drivers, Case Studies and Recommendations, NRMP Best Practice Strategy Document (Revised edition from 2012 NRMPS), Based on Namibia Rangeland Management Policy (NRMP): A.