Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change in Africa Report on Case Studies of Namibia’s Topnaar and Hai||om Communities Land, Environment and Development Project LEGAL ASSISTANCE CENTRE March 2013 Section Heading A Acknowledgements The researchers for this study and the authors of this report were Ute Dieckmann, Willem Odendaal, Jacquie Tarr and Arja Schreij. We thank Birgitte Feiring, Sille Stidsen and Jakob Kronik of Charapa Consultants who made it possible for the Land, Environment and Development (LEAD) Project of the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) to be involved in this project. For LEAD’s involvement, Charapa Consultants made funds available from the World Bank’s Trust Fund for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (TFESSD) which funds the global TFESSD study on Impacts of Climate Change on Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Knowledge. We thank the following for their contributions to the field research and/or the study report: the communities of Soutrivier, Tsintsabis and Farm Six who participated in the study; Sebedeus Swartbooi of the Topnaar community and Moses |Khumub of the Hai||om community, for their guidance and assistance during the fieldwork period; the personnel of the Gobabeb Research and Training Centre, especially Mary Seely, Vivian Ward and Machel Bock; Sebedeus Swartbooi for providing photographs to supplement those taken by Ute Dieckmann and Willem Odendaal; Arja Schreij for providing the original diagrammes and tables for this report; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for making funds available for the editing and layout of this report, and particularly Nadine Faschina and Konrad Uebelhör of GIZ for facilitating this funding process; and Perri Caplan for laying out this report and assisting with editing. We also thank Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED) for its financial support for the LEAD Project over the years, and Africa Groups of Sweden, the Embassy of Finland and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) for their financial support for the LAC. © Land, Environment and Development (LEAD) Project of Publisher’s contact details: the Legal Assistance Centre, 2013 4 Marien Ngouabi Street (former name Körner St) Windhoek P.O. Box 604, Windhoek, Namibia All rights reserved. This publication can be reproduced and Telephone (+264) (0)61-223356 Fax (+264) (0)61-234953 distributed in whole or in part, with prior permission from and Email [email protected] Website www.lac.org.na due acknowledgement of the publisher. An electronic version (PDF) of this report is available on Printed by ____________________________ in Windhoek. the LAC website. ISBN 978-99945-61-49-0 Cover photo: the Kuiseb River (Erongo Region) fl ooding in 2011 B Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change in Africa: Report on Case Studies of Namibia’s Topnaar and Hai||om Communities Contents Lists of Tables and Figures ......................................................................................................................................................................................... iii List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... iv Summary .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 25 1.1 Conceptual framework ................................................................................................................................................................. 26 1.2 Methodology ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 27 1.2.1 Fieldwork ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 29 1.2.2 Methodological considerations .................................................................................................................................. 30 2. Indigenous Peoples of the Sub-Region ..................................................................................... 31 2.1 History, culture and ethnicity, institutions, social organisation and demographics ......... 32 2.2 Livelihood and traditional knowledge .......................................................................................................................... 32 2.3 Non-climatic drivers of change ............................................................................................................................................. 33 3. The Vulnerability and Opportunity Context in Namibia ........................ 35 3.1 Environment, climate hazards and impacts .............................................................................................................. 35 3.2 Scale, intensity and predictability of identifi ed key climate phenomena .................................... 38 3.3 Governance: legislation, policies, institutions, recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights, political participation and confl icts ............................................................................................................... 41 3.3.1 Recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in Namibia ............................................................................. 41 3.3.2 Recognition of traditional authorities in Namibia ........................................................................................ 43 3.3.3 National climate change policies and consultation .................................................................................... 44 3.4 Socio-economic conditions ...................................................................................................................................................... 46 3.5 Access to land and natural resources .............................................................................................................................. 47 4. Case Studies ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 53 4.1 Case Study One: the Topnaar .................................................................................................................................................. 54 4.1.1 Vulnerability and opportunity context for the case study ..................................................................... 54 4.1.1.1 Environment, climate hazards and impacts .................................................................................................. 54 4.1.1.2 Governance .................................................................................................................................................................... 57 4.1.1.3 Socio-economic conditions ................................................................................................................................... 59 4.1.1.4 Access to land and natural resources ................................................................................................................ 65 4.1.2 Impacts of climate change and variability on indigenous peoples in the sub-region ..... 67 4.1.2.1 Local perceptions ........................................................................................................................................................ 67 4.1.2.2 Key impacts .................................................................................................................................................................... 69 4.1.2.3 Contributing factors .................................................................................................................................................. 72 4.1.3 Traditional knowledge and adaptation to climate change and variability ............................... 72 4.1.3.1 Indigenous peoples’ adaptive capacity and resilience .............................................................................. 72 4.1.3.2 Indigenous peoples’ adaptation strategies .................................................................................................... 73 Section Heading i 4.2 Case Study Two: the Hai||om ................................................................................................................................................... 75 4.2.1 Vulnerability and opportunity context for the case study ..................................................................... 76 4.2.1.1 Environment, climate hazards and impacts .................................................................................................. 76 4.2.1.2 Governance .................................................................................................................................................................... 78 4.2.1.3 Socio-economic conditions ................................................................................................................................... 80 4.2.1.4 Access to land