Settlement, trees and termites in Central North Namibia: A case of indigenous resource management

Verlinden, Alex; Seely, Mary; Hillyer, A.E.M.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2005.11.012

Cited by 19 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…It then expanded into many areas of agricultural development and natural resource management (Brokensha et al 1980;Ashby 1985;McCorkle 1989;DeWalt 1994;Thompson and Scoones 1994;Rhoades and Bebbington 1995;Warren et al 1995;Chambers 1996;Richards 1993;Nazarea 1999Nazarea , 2006Cleveland and Soleri 2007). Recent studies document the effectiveness of indigenous knowledge in land management in a number of settings (Brodt 2001;Verlinden et al 2006) and show that indigenous knowledge persists even in contexts of commercial land use and government land management (McDaniel et al 2005).…”

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confidence: 99%

Indigenous climate knowledge in southern Uganda: the multiple components of a dynamic regional system

et al. 2009

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Farmers in southern Uganda seek information to anticipate the interannual variability in the timing and amount of precipitation, a matter of great importance to them since they rely on rain-fed agriculture for food supplies and income. The four major components of their knowledge system are: (1) longstanding familiarity with the seasonal patterns of precipitation and temperature, (2) a set of local traditional climate indicators, (3) observation of meteorological events, (4) information about the progress of the seasons elsewhere in the region. We examine these components and show the connections among them. We discuss the social contexts in which this information is perceived, evaluated, discussed and applied, and we consider the cultural frameworks that support the use of this information. This system of indigenous knowledge leads farmers to participate as agents as well as consumers in programs that use modern climate science to plan for and adapt to climate variability and climate change.

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confidence: 99%

Indigenous climate knowledge in southern Uganda: the multiple components of a dynamic regional system

et al. 2009

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“…Farm holding sizes vary but averaging to 3.2 ha. This average masks significant variation, with wealthier farmers holding up to 10 ha and poorer ones less than 1 ha [12][13][14]. The farming system also comprises of livestock component (cattle, goats and donkeys), and a mixture of multipurpose indigenous trees and shrubs.…”

Section: The Biophysical Characteristics Of the Cuvelai Basin In Namimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Owambo farmers, as the early settlers of the Cuvelai Basin of north-central Namibia have been reported by many authors [11][12][13][14][15] to employ IEK (indigenous environmental knowledge) as the basis for making decisions about cropping, livestock grazing strategies and natural resources management. Therefore, it can be stated that IEK constitutes adaptive capacity to cope with the adverse effects of drought and flood events, giving local people resilience for centuries to drought and flooding variability impacts.…”

Section: The Owambo Indigenous Land Management Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the Owambo people decided on where to graze animals or grow crops, they draw upon a sophisticated understanding of the productive potential of their environment, which includes (but not limited to) considerations of topography, elevation, soil properties, soil depth to the hardpan, soil-water dynamics and availability of annual and perennial grasses. This is referred to as an "indigenous land unit management classification system", and is described to aid decisions about what to plant and where, or about the management of a rangeland, and also as a central factor in determining settlement patterns [13,16].…”

Section: The Owambo Indigenous Land Management Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The value and utility of the ILUs (indigenous land units) of the north-central Namibia was demonstrated by Verlindenet al [13], when applying a detrended correspondence analysis using vegetation criteria (Structure) …”

Section: The Owambo Indigenous Land Management Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Departure from Indigenous Land Use System and the Consequential Impacts: A Case of Cuvelai Basin, North-Central Namibia

Niipele¹,

Kaholongo²,

Njunge³

2015

JESE-A

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Abstract:The Cuvelai Basin of north-central Namibia consists of unique seasonal wetlands made up of shallow pans locally known as Iishana (Oshana, singular) which form ephemeral network systems. The basin has relatively fertile soils encouraging human settlements. More than 40% of the country's population resides in the basin. Early settlers in the basin utilized indigenous knowledge to develop land use systems that were in harmony with biophysical characteristics of the area. Over the years, there has been a departure from these indigenous land use systems resulting in land management problems. A desktop study coupled with field observations was conducted to describe the indigenous land use systems of the Owambo people living in the basin, and to determine factors behind the departure and consequential impacts of this departure on sustainability of land uses. Possible ways of preventing erosion of this indigenous knowledge were given attention. The paper recommends that the Owamboindigenous land management system needs to be embedded within government policies and regulations and should be strictly enforced. There is also a need for designing strategic basin management plans that are a combination of both scientific and indigenous knowledge.

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Changing grazing systems in central north Namibia

Verlinden

Kruger

2006

Land Degrad Dev

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Current and historical livestock movement patterns are explored in a semi-arid communal environment in central-north Namibia, placed in context of increasing population, large-scale enclosures, increased water supply and changing vegetation. Farmer's knowledge of movements, rangeland potential, vegetation condition and plant indicators was gathered and analysed with various methods such as Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). Local rangeland units were mapped with Landsat TM imagery and analysed with a Geographical Information System (GIS). The data suggest that good grazing was previously maintained by low herbivore pressure and frequent fires in a management regime controlled by hunter-gatherers and limited permanent water supply.Population increase in settled areas starts migration to more fertile land units in previous prime grazing areas causing a conflict between grazing and cropping and a decrease in grazing condition triggering further migration and need for new water supply. Recent large-scale enclosures are targeting predominantly more fertile land units with the most palatable perennial grass species and water, causing further conflict for communal farmers.Having reached the frontier of the traditional land there is no space for further expansion, resulting in the need to adapt to uncertainty with annual grasses more dependent on rainfall. Livestock movement patterns have changed drastically for large herd owners from transhumance and migration to largely permanent cattle posts. Small herd owners face increasing longer movements between kraals, water points, depending on less suitable and decreased unfenced grazing lands.

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Settlement, trees and termites in Central North Namibia: A case of indigenous resource management

Cited by 19 publications

References 7 publications

Indigenous climate knowledge in southern Uganda: the multiple components of a dynamic regional system

Indigenous climate knowledge in southern Uganda: the multiple components of a dynamic regional system

Departure from Indigenous Land Use System and the Consequential Impacts: A Case of Cuvelai Basin, North-Central Namibia

Changing grazing systems in central north Namibia

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