Namibia

Oct 2018

Fall Armyworm (FAW) arrived in Namibia during the 2016/2017 cropping season, following several years of difficulties for the agricultural sector caused by recurrent droughts. However, during the 2016/2017 season, weather conditions were generally favourable throughout most of the country – excluding the western and the southern regions.

In Numbers

US$ 5,080,330 (Funding requirement for 2017 - 2022).

Operational Updates

OVERVIEW

Below normal rainfall was experienced over most of the country, although floods were recorded in northern Namibia. Being an arid country, most Namibians depend on markets for their food, and staple prices are increasing. The Consolidated Approach to Reporting Indicators of Food Security (CARI) indicates that 39% of rural Namibians are moderately food insecure and 1.4% severely food insecure. In urban areas, 69.3% are food insecure and 1.1% severely food insecure. About 24% of children under age 5 are stunted.

By Lisa Johnson on August 29, 2018

Aug 20, 2018 | Southern African Development Community
Windhoek, Namibia

Albertina Nakale

WINDHOEK – The early floods experienced this year have destroyed unharvested rice fields worth more than N$500 000 at the Kalimbeza Rice Project in Zambezi Region.

Kalimbeza farm manager, Patrick Kompeli, who is also the agricultural research technician in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry confirmed the financial losses experienced due to heavy deluge that flooded fields planted with three rice varieties.

A. SITUATION ANALYSIS

Description of the disaster

Amsterdam, The Netherlands —The Government of the Republic of Namibia, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and ICAP at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health released new data today at the 2018 International AIDS Conference demonstrating the HIV epidemic is coming under control in Namibia.

Albertina Nakale

WINDHOEK – Following the Botswana deadline that lapsed on July 14, more Namibian refugees from Dukwe are returning home voluntarily to avoid deportation by that country.

This comes after Botswana took a decision to finally enforce a cessation clause with respect to the status of Namibian refugees living at Dukwe, which was invoked in 2015.

These refugees were given a deadline to register in person for voluntary repatriation to Namibia from May 11 to July 11, 2018 or risk facing deportation as they are regarded as illegal immigrants.

Kuzeeko Tjitemisa

WINDHOEK – The ambassador of the United States of America to Namibia, Lisa Johnson, has vowed her country will continue to assist Namibia in its fight against the outbreak of hepatitis E.

Johnson made this promise on Friday after she visited Havana and Goreangab informal settlements in the Samora Machel Constituency, Windhoek to see the progress made and the challenges remaining in addressing the outbreak of hepatitis E.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

By Rosemary Nalisa, Namibia Red Cross Society

Thirty-five-year-old Taimi Tyameya, from Mayana Community in Northern Namibia is excited about her new energy-efficient stoves introduced to her community by the Namibia Red Cross.

The introduction of the stoves is part of a renewable energy and climate change mitigation project that will reach 200 families. Most Namibians, like Tyameya, living in rural and peri-urban areas depend on charcoal and firewood to prepare meals for their families, which is both expensive and unsustainable for the environment.

In Numbers

• US$ 5 million (Funding requirement for 2017 - 2022).

Operational Context

WFP’s focus in Namibia has shifted from food aid to providing technical assistance to the Government. The aim is to strengthen national capacities to end hunger by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of food systems to include: safety net programmes, such as school feeding and relief operations, and to enhance the Government’s capacity to assess, plan and respond to food security needs.

Windhoek-The current good rains have come too late for most communal farmers in the northern crop-farming areas but most disappointed are farmers in the Kunene Region who have lost seeds due to too much water.

Aron Mushaukwa

Katima Mulilo-Five schools in the Zambezi Region have temporarily closed due to heavy floods that have swamped schools in the low-lying areas following heavy rains that have characterised the past few months.

Schools that have closed down are: Muzii Combined, Nankutwe Combined, Mpukano Primary, Namiyundu Primary and Ikaba Combined.

WINDHOEK, Namibia—UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF and WHO are assisting the Namibian government in the fight against an outbreak of Hepatitis E on the outskirts of the national capital, Windhoek.

More than 800 people are suspected of having contracted Hepatitis, while five people have died from the disease. The outbreak was first reported in October 2017. Of the five who have died, three were women in the post-partum period.

Nuusita Ashipala

Ongwediva-Recent heavy rains and floods wreaked havoc in some parts of the northern regions, flooding schools as well as residential areas towards the end of last week.

Those at the receiving end include school-going children in Omusati and Kunene regions as well as homeowners at Oshikuku Town Council, both within the formal and informal settlements.

Alvine Kapitako
Windhoek

There are fears that hepatitis E in Havana and Goreangab informal settlements could become endemic, according to epidemiologist, Dr Lilliane Kahuika, of the Ministry of Health and Social Services. The number of cases recorded since the outbreak in October last year are 113, she said. Last week, 44 cases of hepatitis E were recorded and ten deaths since the outbreak.

Poor rainfall performance this agricultural season has affected the recovery of grazing pasture in the country from the dry spell last year.

Nuusita Ashipala
Ongwediva

Following heavy rainfall in Angola a second flood wave could swamp northern Namibia in the next four days, confirmed a hydrologist responsible for the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin in Namibia.
Leonard Hango said Ondjiva is currently under water and it is expected the flood that hit Ondjiva will spill over into Namibia.

“Efundja is on its way, it has been recorded in Angola, but it is yet to overflow into Namibia,” said the Cuvelai-Etosha basin hydrologist.

Ondjiva is located about 45 km from Oshikango.