When Namibia achieved independence in 1990, about five percent
of the population (whites) controlled over 70 percent of the country’s
GDP, while an estimated two-thirds of the population were living in
conditions of absolute poverty (Jauch, 2015). Today, inequality and
poverty are still major challenges, and this is evident in the high Gini
coefficient of around 0.61
and high levels of unemployment (ibid). In
2008, Namibia recorded an overall unemployment rate of 51.2 percent.
The situation for women and children is even worse. Youth unemployment
reached around 75 percent in 2008 (Jauch, 2015).
The Labour Force Survey of 2012 (Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA),
2013) showed an overall unemployment rate of 27.4 percent with a rate
of 31.8 percent among women and 52 percent among the youth (Jauch,
2015). However, the Labour Force Survey figures are contested as the
methodology used to measure employment gave misleading outcomes.
The test for employment was whether a person was engaged
in any type of economic activity for only one hour in the week prior to
their being interviewed (Jauch, 2015). This included activities such as
looking after animals, fixing a fence, catching fish, collecting firewood,
repairing household items, etc. (ibid). Anybody engaged in any such
activity for one hour was counted as employed, bringing down the official
unemployment rate substantially.
Poverty still affects a large number of Namibians. It can be measured
in different ways and the methodology used determines to a significant
extent who will be considered poor. While the official figures
put the poverty rate at about 27 percent of the population, other measures
put it as high as 82 percent (Jauch, Edwards & Cupido, 2009). In
2015, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO, 2015, p. 45)
reported that 42.3 percent of Namibians were undernourished, an increase
of 18 percent since the early 1990s. The FAO also notes that
the country has not achieved MDG Target 1c (reduce the proportion of
chronically undernourished citizens by half) and has displayed a “lack
of progress or deterioration” in this area (pp 45, 57).