International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN: 2319-7064 ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426 Volume 9 Issue 3, March 2020 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Drought as a Disaster in the Namibian Context Ndapewa Fenny Nakanyete 1 , Rosemary, N. Shikangalah 2 , Absai Vatuva 3 1 Department of Geography, History and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Namibia 2 Department of Geography, History and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Namibia 3 Department of Geology, Southern Campus, Unversity of Namibia Abstract: Drought is one of the most significant and challenging natural disasters across the globe. In Southern Africa, the phenomenon has become more frequent and severe, with devastating impacts particularly on livelihoods of Namibian communities, their farming activities and availability of water resources. This study provides an overview of drought in a Namibian context, with special presented cases from the north central region. The study mainly employed secondary data from various existing in publications to explore the concepts, causes and forecasting of drought. Furthermore, relevant newspapers were reviewed to assess the impacts of the recent drought whilst interviews were conducted with key informants on drought prediction using indigenous knowledge. It is revealed in the study’s findings that Namibia’s climate and rainfall abnormalities are influenced by the interplay of the dominant Subtropical High Pressure Zone (SHPZ), the Temperate Zone and Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Thus, drought susceptibility of livelihoods often prevails and was traced in this study as far as 1911, during which thousands of people died largely due to famine. Although not as this many human lives were lost during the 2019 drought, three people instantly died as the wall of the dug well collapsed, at least 90 000 of livestock were reported to have died of thirst while one-third of the country’s population was affected as the staple cereal production depreciated significantly. The study recommends improved early warning systems, possibly by merging the Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis with relevant indigenous knowledge. Meanwhile, strategies on sustainable harvesting of groundwater from the discovered “Ohangwena II aquifer” - need to be prioritized to support the affected livelihoods in the country. Keywords: drought, disaster, Namibia, livelihoods, early warning system, indigenous knowledge, water, communities 1. Introduction Drought is one of the significant natural disasters that affect various regions globally. Currently, countries such as Northeastern China, North Korea, North Ontario in Canada, Southern Australia, Angola, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia are reported to be experiencing drought (NASA, 2019; FEWS NET, 2019). In Southern Africa, up to 45 million people did not have food security in 2019 due to drought. The ongoing drought is described as one of the worst to be recorded in 90 years (NASA, 2019; Southern Times, 2019). By February 2019, Namibia and the southern part of Angola were reported to have received a significantly below average rainfall (FEWS NET, 2019). The shortage of rainfall resulted in poor and below average pasture conditions, less water availability for citizens and livestock, as well as an increase in drought- related livestock diseases (such as foot and mouth diseases) and death in these countries. In Namibia, drought has been prevalent for a long period of time, with variations in severity per seasons. Although climatic conditions of Namibia are distinctive between regions in the east, west, north and south, the country is renowned as the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a short irregular rainy season (Kapolo, 2014; Rothauge, 2001). The yearly average rainfall received in Namibia is reported by Foissner to be under 250 mm with annual mean evaporation of up to 3700 mm (as cited in Lua, Wanga, Panb, Kaseke & Lia, 2016, p.67). This means that the evaporation rate could be almost 15 times higher than the precipitation rate received in the form of rain on some occasion. Even with the recounted average of rainfall in a year, not all parts of the country receive such an amount. In fact, the 825, 615 km² sized country is highly dominated by arid conditions of certain scales. The Namib Desert, which is located to the west, as well as the Kalahari Desert, which predominates the southeastern part of the country, forms parts of regularly very arid to arid parts of Namibia. According to Seely (1994), 16% of the country‟s land is regarded as a true desert without any agricultural activities, 49% as arid, 32% as semi-arid and 3% as sub-humid. On the other hand, Turpie, Midgley, Brown, Barnes, Pallett, Desmet, Tarr & Tarr (2010) gave an approximate of 22% of Namibia‟s land as desert, 70% arid to semi‐arid and only 8% is regarded as dry sub‐humid. Both sources highlight that a larger part of the country does not always receive sufficient rain therefore sometimes leading to a shortage of water, which affect the livelihoods of people, animals and plants. Therefore, this paper discusses the various definition, causes and impact of drought, its prediction through spatial analysis and indigenous knowledge. The paper gives a special overview of the impacts of the 2019 drought on the country‟s socio-economic developments and its effects on livelihoods. 2. Data Collection Methods This study principally used secondary data of existing knowledge collected from previously published articles, theses, books, websites, newspapers, and other various research reports. The purpose of this method was to extract relevant information from previous studies including meteorological data, descriptive facts and statistics on the cause and impact of drought in Namibia. Meanwhile, due to limited available literature on the prediction of drought using indigenous knowledge, in particular, in-depth interviews were conducted with three knowledgeable community Paper ID: SR20223012241 DOI: 10.21275/SR20223012241 377