1) Namibia is vulnerable to climate change impacts due to its dry climate, heavy reliance on natural resources, and socioeconomic factors. 2) Projected changes include increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, more extreme weather events, and threats to water resources, agriculture, biodiversity and tourism. 3) Namibia has implemented policies and programs to address adaptation, including national climate change strategies, community-based projects, ecosystem-based fisheries management, conservation agriculture, and improving traditional crops and livestock.

1. Ecosystem assessment approach and Climate Change adaptation: Namibia
CBD NAP Expo
14 – 15 April 2015, Bonn, Germany
Sion Shifa
Multilateral Environmental Agreements
Department of Environmental Affairs
Ministry of Environment & Tourism
Windhoek
Namibia

2. Outline
• Background
• Climate Change in Namibia
• Climate Change impacts
• Responses to climate change

3. Background
• Namibia is one of the driest countries in Southern Africa, mean rainfall of
25mm-700mm annually
• About 70% of population relies on subsistence and small holder crop and
ranching
• Contributes to making Namibia vulnerable to impacts of climate change
• Constitution of the Republic of Namibia highlights the need to develop and
implement policies to maintain ecosystem, ecological process and biodiversity
• About 22% of Namibia’s 823 680 km² land area is desert, 70% is arid to semi
arid, and the remaining 8% is dry sub humid

4. CLIMATE CHANGE IN NAMIBIA
• Namibia’s climate is generally hot and dry with variable and unpredictable rainfall
patterns. This situation will become worse as a result of CC.
• Maximum temperatures has been getting hotter over the past 40 years, exceeding
35°C.
• Minimum temperatures below 5°C have been getting less, suggesting an overall
warming.
• It is predicted with a high degree of certainty that Namibia will become hotter
throughout the year (with a predicted increase in temperatures of between 1°C and
3,5°C in summer and 1°C to 4°C in winter in the period 2046 - 2065).
• Rainfall to decrease by 10 % Northern and southern regions while in the Central
regions by 20 % by 2050 (MET, 2010).
• The most consistent changes are for an increase in late summer rainfall over major
parts of the country, and a decrease in winter rainfall in the south and west of the
country.

5. Namibia is very vulnerable to impacts of CC. Why?
• The economy of Namibia is highly dependent on its endowment of natural
resources including:
– diverse rangelands,
– arable land,
– mineral deposits,
– ecosystems, and biodiversity.
• Namibia’s climate is highly variable. CC is expected to worsen this variability.
• Low and highly variable rainfall (25mm –700mm).
• High temperatures (300C to 400C).

6. Cont…IMAPCTS OF CC
• Increase in frequency of extreme events in some places e.g. floods in the north and north
eastern regions; drought and heat waves will have devastating consequences on people.
• Sea level rise would affect coastal areas, flooding and coastal erosion.
• Major rivers are highly sensitive to climate variations and experience decreases in run-off
and water availability, affecting agriculture and hydropower systems, which may increase
cross boundary tensions.

7. Impacts on Agriculture
• Livestock will be negatively affected by:
1.Heat stress - declining growth rates
2.Decreased water availability – drop in
groundwater
3.Decreased nutrition - decline grass cover and
quality as well as availability of fodder
4.Occurrence of climate related animal diseases is
expected to increase

8. Cont.. Impacts on Agriculture
•Crop: Grain yields are projected
to decrease as result of:
i. Submerged crops
ii. Drought

9. Impact on Water resources
o Increased water stress as result of drier conditions
o Reduced availability of freshwater in dams due to increased evaporation
o Possible salt intrusion into ground water sources at coastal areas
• Predicted effects (of drought)
– Water scarcity by 2020
• Risk of shortage of clean
drinking water
– Declining water quality in urban
areas

10. Impacts on other sectors
• Biodiversity and Tourism
• Significant increase in size of arid land areas
• Damage to important ecosystems and related potential risk of reduction in tourism
• Socio-economic
• Reduced food security, especially for rural poor
• Adverse impact on Namibia’s GDP
Fisheries
 Multiple risks to fishery dependent communities
 Export revenues losses
 Losses in employment
• Health
• Increased likelihood of diseases, especially malaria and cholera in flooded areas
• “Triple vulnerability” of HIV/AIDS sufferers: adverse climate conditions, poor health and
associated economic impacts

11. Namibia and UNFCCC /UNCBD
• Ratified to the UNFCCC in 1995
• Ratified to the UNCBD 1997
• Namibia established NCCC and SLM Committee to play an advisory roles to
government on climate change and biodiversity management issues
• committee units under MET

12. Policies framework
• National Policy on Climate Change for Namibia – 2011
• Recognize the developmental goals & promotes integration & coordination of programme of
various sector organization, so that the benefits to the country as a whole are maximized,
and negative impacts are minimized.
• Exploring adaptation & mitigation approaches relevant to all sectoral levels.
• Guiding principle emphasis the mainstreaming of CC into policies, legal framework and
development planning
• National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2013 – 2020
• Developed in order to implement the National Policy on CC, CC is a complex and cross cutting
concern ,it needs a holistic and integrated approach at multi sectoral level
• Comprehensive and practical tool which offers guidance on the mechanisms, means and
manner in which implementation can happen
• Mid term review process of implementation

13. Policies Cont….
• 84 gazetted conservancies
• Game Reserves
• Proclaimed National Parks
• Community Forests
• Community ownership over resources vs benefits a key
• Sustainable utilisation of natural resources
• Income generating opportunities vs ecotourism

14. National Programme addressing Climate Change Adaptation
– Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Project
• Main objective is to pilot adaptation measure in selected sites
- Community Based Adaptation (CBA)
• Amis to foster holistic approach for harnessing coping strategies to
adapt to climate change
– Namibia Africa Adaptation Project (NAM-AAP)
• Aims to create systems to manage climate change risks &
opportunities in the long-term

15. – Community Based Adaptation (CBA)
• Gives grants to concrete community based projects
• Supports various communities adaptation initiatives such as rice cultivation,
conservation agriculture, aquaculture etc.

16. Adaptation option/ measures
• Maintain an ecosystem approach to fisheries management
• Measures to improve water supply could include inter-basin transfers, rehabilitating water
basins, artificial recharge, desalination and appropriate water harvesting systems. Water
demand should be addressed through water saving technologies, drought resistant crops,
and indigenous technologies

17. Adaptation option/ measures
• Pressures arising as a result of reduced agricultural productivity are addressed through
measures such as diversifying livelihoods, including building capacity in this regard
• increasing the focus on rangeland and natural resource management, and shifts into
conservation-oriented business, and would involve building on existing programme such as
CBNRM

18. Adaptations Cont…
• To counter and reverse land degradation and adapt to climate change through CA as
as basis for sustainable crop production and improved food security at national and
farm level
• To safeguard and ensure that there is a sustainable water supplies for irrigation,
livestock and fishing farming. In addition it aimed to ease the devastating effects of
flooding by restoring traditional waterways reservoirs

19. CPP – SLM /CCA
Adapting to Climate Change through the Improvement of Traditional crops and
Livestock Farming
• Objectives
• To develop and pilot a range of effective coping mechanisms that assist subsistence
farmers in Namibia's North - Central regions to better manage and cope with climate
change, including variability such as drought.
• Improved adaptative local breeder such Nguni and boer goats
• Horticulture

20. Thank you!!!!