About 67% of Namibia’s estimated population of ~ 2.0 million lives in rural areas and the total
population is expected to double over 27 years. The average population density is with 2.4
inhabitants/km² one of the lowest in the world but distribution is very inequitable; the central and
southern parts of the extreme arid country have population densities of < 5 people/km², often < 1
people/km², and the north central and north eastern regions have population densities exceeding 25
people/km², in some areas 150 people/km². With a Gini Coefficient of 0.67 (slight improvement from 0.7
in 1993/4), Namibia has the most unequal distribution of income in the world. About 0.3% of the
population own 44% of the land in the commercial area and 5% of the population earn almost 70% of
the income. High levels of poverty exist especially in the rural communal areas (41% of the land), where
~ 1 million people live mainly from subsistence agriculture and livestock keeping.
The over-riding environmental issues in the sensitive dry environment of Namibia are high vulnerability
to climate change, water scarcity and vegetation/land degradation resulting from land pressure,
especially in the densely populated northern regions. The key issues are vegetation degradation
(desertification and bush encroachment, deforestation), soil erosion and decreasing soil fertility.
Extreme climatic variations with periodic drought periods affect not only the livestock and agricultural
production, but nearly all sectors of the economy. Namibia is, referring to different climate modelling,
one of the most severe affected countries by global climate change, which is locally accelerated by
unsustainable land use practices and resulting anthropogenic climate change (aridifying). Major
problems currently are:
Inappropriate land management practices, especially on rangeland and agriculture land. Livestock
farming is the principal activity in rural areas and overgrazing leads to vegetation destruction or bush
encroachment and accelerates soil erosion. Soil fertility is decreasing due to inadequate agriculture
techniques and salinisation problems in several irrigation schemes. Bush encroachment impacts 26
million hectares of woodland savannas, including 11 million ha in the communal area, and lead to loss
of carrying capacity and reduction of the available and exploitable ground water.
The scarcity of fresh water is the major threat to development. Water supply is actually only assured
due to high investments in water supply systems. Decreasing groundwater levels in some areas,
hydrological changes in river systems and huge water lost in the supply system (dams, canals) due to
evaporation are unavoidable side effects of improved water supply. Improved water supply through
boreholes especially in the northern regions, has led to increasing numbers of livestock and in several
areas to additional pressure on the vegetation due to overgrazing.
The few forest resources (< 10% of the country) are under pressure due to exploitation for construction
material and energy supply especially in remote rural areas. Only 15 – 20% of the rural areas are
electrified and wood is the dominant energy source for poor rural households. The remaining energy
demand is assured mainly by electricity and petrol product imports from the neighbouring countries,
especially South Africa. Attention on Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) as sources of alternative or
complementary sources of income is increasing with the risk of over exploitation of these resources as a
consequence.
Namibia has remarkable biological diversity and a high level of endemism (higher plants 687, avian
species 13, reptiles ~70, insects ~ 8,500). Furthermore, 217 species of mammals are found, 26 of which
are endemic including Mountain Zebra, rodents and small carnivores, as well as unique desert-dwelling
rhino and elephants. The country hosts the world’s largest population of cheetah.