THE devolution of rights to enable rural communities to benefit from the natural resources in their local environment through the creation of communal conservancies and community-based forestry is considered one of Namibia’s major achievements towards sustainable development. Sustainable development is defined as development which meets the needs of the present generations without compromising on the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

This theme will form part of the country’s report to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development scheduled for 20-22 June. The nations of the world will gather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Rio+20 to secure renewed political commitment to sustainable development. A three-day workshop held at Swakopmund from 22-24 February aimed to gather feed-back and input for the Namibia’s report.
Environmental consultant, Dietlinde Nakwaya, provided an overview of the draft and pointed to some of Namibia’s achievements, including the expansion of the Protected Areas Network, putting in place of a number of environmental protection policy frameworks and mainstreaming environmental concerns into other sectors. Nakwaya reported that as of February 2012 there were 71 registered conservancies, covering more than 18% of the total land-surface of Namibia and generating over N$50 million for rural communities.
The workshop reviewed the National Biodiversity Strategic and Action Plan, while the Nature Amendment Act of 1996, Environmental Management Act of 2007, Climate Change Policy of 2011 and the Sanitation Strategy (2010-2015) were singled out as some of the commendable policies that Namibia has already put in place.
On the economic front, Nakwaya pointed to Namibia’s steady economic growth since 1994 (with an average 4.4% growth in GDP) and good recovery since the global financial crisis of 2008. Namibia also created a conducive climate for business and investment through its democratic institutions. On the social front Namibia has seen a vast improvement in access to safe drinking water (by 2009/2010 88% of people in rural areas had access and in urban areas currently 99% have access to safe drinking water.)
The overall HIV-AIDS prevalence-rate is believed to be declining, Nakwaya said, while there is also a major reduction in malaria cases. However, the country is vulnerable to climate change, which could increase the frequency of flooding and drought, as well as negatively affect subsistence-farming, bio-diversity and the Benguela Current System. Though the education sector was getting the biggest share of the national budget, we are saddled with a high failure-rate and low competency among teachers. Consistent economic growth is still coupled with increasing levels of unemployment and high levels of poverty and inequality. Other challenges to sustainable development in Namibia are the scarcity of water and dependence on imported fossil fuels.

- Environmental consultant, Dietlinde Nakwaya