Bush encroachment threatens food, water security in Namibia

Namibia’s Minister of Environment Forestry and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta says bush encroachment is threatening natural habitats for animals and plants of the savannah ecosystem in Namibia.

The Minister said local bushes were spreading massively at the expense of grass vegetation in the country.

Speaking at a handover ceremony of bush harvesting equipment on Friday, Shifeta expressed concern over the bush encroachment which she said was also affecting wildlife tourism in the country.

According to him, wildlife animal populations are declining in areas affected by bush encroachment.

“Bush encroachment leads to land degradation mostly in semi-arid to arid regions. The tourism industry contributes about 15 per cent to our gross domestic product (GDP) and this signifies its importance to the national economy”, he said.

“In Namibia today, about 45 million hectares of agricultural land are infested with encroached bushes which are destroying the arable land and reducing its productivity.

“This is a worrisome fact as nearly 70 per cent of the Namibian population depends on agricultural activities and the livestock industry is the mainstay with a high contribution to the GDP in the farming industry.

“Furthermore, the decline in agricultural productivity due to bush encroachment is estimated at around two-thirds in the last 40 years. Although Namibia’s agricultural sector contributes only 3-5 per cent of the country’s GDP, it accounts for by far the largest share of jobs in the country”, Shifeta said.

Bush encroachment is a natural phenomenon characterized by the excessive expansion of bushes (trees and shrubs), such as blackthorn, at the expense of other plant species, especially grasses and has severe negative consequences on key ecosystem services, especially agricultural productivity and groundwater recharge.

(Xinhua/NAN)