MINISTRY OF LANDS AND RESETTLEMENT Baseline Report (Volume 1) for the Zambezi Integrated Regional Land-use Plan Ashby Associates cc Baseline Report for Integrated Land-use planning (IRLUP) Zambezi Region, Namibia (Baseline Report – Volume 1) SPC, APF & SAIEA Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 1 1. INTRODUCTION TO INTEGRATED REGIONAL LAND-USE PLANNING ............................ 1 1.1. STRUCTURE OF THE ZAMBEZI INTEGRATED REGIONAL LAND-USE PLAN ................................................ 2 1.2. OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE INTEGRATED LAND-USE PLAN ....................................................... 3 1.3. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK OF IRLUP ...................................................................................................... 4 1.4. ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK RELEVANT TO ZAMBEZI IRLUP ......................................... 5 1.4.1 Overview of national legislation and policies relevant to the Zambezi IRLUP .................................... 5 1.4.2 International laws, treaties and conventions relevant to the Zambezi IRLUP ................................. 10 2 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................... 13 2.1 COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION ................................................................................... 13 2.2 DESKTOP STUDIES .......................................................................................................................................... 15 2.3 GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS ................................................................................................... 15 2.4 PREVIOUS STUDIES, PLANS AND PROJECTS ................................................................................................. 16 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE ZAMBEZI REGION ................................................................... 18 3.1 STRATEGIC ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE ZAMBEZI REGION ........................................................ 18 3.2 LAND OWNERSHIP, TENURE AND ADMINISTRATION OF LAND WITHIN THE ZAMBEZI REGION .......... 22 3.2.1 Local and Regional Authorities............................................................................................................................ 24 3.2.2 Communal Land/ Traditional Authority Areas ............................................................................................. 27 3.2.3 Programme for Communal Land Development Programme (PCLD) ................................................... 29 3.2.4 Protected areas (Conservancies, Forests and Parks) .................................................................................. 31 3.3 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ZAMBEZI REGION .......................................................................... 32 3.3.1 Climate ........................................................................................................................................................................... 32 3.3.2 Topography, landscape and soils ........................................................................................................................ 35 3.3.3 Surface and underground water resources .................................................................................................... 40 3.3.4 Vegetation .................................................................................................................................................................... 43 3.3.5 Animal Life ................................................................................................................................................................... 47 3.3.6 Carrying capacity and agro-ecological zones ................................................................................................ 53 3.3.7 Fire .................................................................................................................................................................................. 53 3.3.8 Environmentally Sensitive Areas ......................................................................................................................... 54 3.4 SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE ........................................................................................................................... 57 3.4.1 Population Statistics ................................................................................................................................................ 57 3.4.2 Education and literacy ............................................................................................................................................ 58 3.4.3 HEALTH ......................................................................................................................................................................... 61 3.4.4 Economy and livelihoods ........................................................................................................................................ 64 3.5 CLIMATE CHANGE PREDICTIONS ................................................................................................................... 68 3.5.1 Future climate scenarios ........................................................................................................................................ 68 3.6 ARCHAEOLOGICALLY AND CULTURALLY IMPORTANT AREAS................................................................... 69 4. PRESENT LAND USES AND SECTOR TRENDS WITHIN THE ZAMBEZI REGION .............. 71 4.1 AGRICULTURE SECTOR WITHIN THE ZAMBEZI REGION ........................................................................... 73 4.1.1 Open access livestock/cattle farming ................................................................................................................ 74 March 2015 Page i Baseline Report for Integrated Land-use planning (IRLUP) Zambezi Region, Namibia (Baseline Report – Volume 1) SPC, APF & SAIEA 4.1.2 Crop cultivation.......................................................................................................................................................... 77 4.1.3 Programme for Communal Land Development (PCLD) ............................................................................. 78 4.1.4 Irrigation and horticulture within the region ............................................................................................... 78 4.1.5 Indigenous products ................................................................................................................................................. 82 4.2 TOURISM AND CONSERVATION SECTOR ..................................................................................................... 85 4.2.1 Tourism in the Zambezi Region ........................................................................................................................... 85 4.2.2 Conservation in the Zambezi Region ................................................................................................................. 86 4.3 MINING AND FISHING WITHIN THE ZAMBEZI REGION ........................................................................... 113 4.3.1 Mineral resources .................................................................................................................................................... 113 4.3.2 Fishing ......................................................................................................................................................................... 113 4.3.3 Recreational fishing ............................................................................................................................................... 115 4.4 URBAN CENTRES, SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND INFRASTRUCTURE ................................................... 117 4.4.1 Health ........................................................................................................................................................................... 117 4.4.2 Education.................................................................................................................................................................... 121 4.4.2 Transportation ......................................................................................................................................................... 123 4.4.4 Electricity ................................................................................................................................................................... 125 4.4.3 Water Provision ....................................................................................................................................................... 126 5. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 129 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................... 131 Table of Figures Figure 1: Institutional and administrative framework of IRLUPs (Haub & Mujetenga, 2012). ......... 5 Figure 2: Zambezi Region in context ....................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 3: SADC trade corridors ................................................................................................................................