University of Namibia Press

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UNAM Press publishes works on topics related to Namibia and the Southern African region, reflecting the strengths of the University and the best scholarship in and on Namibia and the region. Published and forthcoming titles include studies of culture and languages; nation building and democracy; education; law; social and political history; autobiographies; the environment and sustainable development. UNAM Press thus plays a vital role in fulfilling the vision and mission of the University, as defined in its key statements, by disseminating the results of the university’s research across a broad spectrum of real-world problems, in order to contribute to nation-building; serving as a repository for the preservation, development and articulation of national values and culture, through the promotion of Namibian history, art and languages, and becoming a treasure house of knowledge at the service of national development.

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Labour law in Namibia
(University of Namibia Press, 2012) Parker, Collins
Labour law or employment law – the two terms can be used interchangeably – may be described as that branch of law that is concerned with persons in the employment relationship. Tebutt, JA put it succinctly in this way: ‘Briefly speaking Labour Law is to be understood as the common law of master and servant as expanded and otherwise modified by Industrial Legislation.’1 Put simply, labour law governs the contractual relationship between an employer and an employee. Flowing from that relationship, employers and employees have certain rights, obligations and liabilities under the law. Principles of other branches of law are deeply embedded in labour law. Chief among these are principles of the law of contract, law of delict, criminal law, statute law, administrative law, constitutional law and human rights law. Central to labour law, as already mentioned, is the contractual relationship between an employer and an employee. Therefore, principles of the law of contract are applied to explain the nature and consequences of the employment relationship. The law of delict is also employed to determine the civil liability of employees, employers and third parties in employment situations. Many countries have eschewed penal sanctions in labour relations, although criminal law still plays an important role in labour relations, especially with regard to unlawful strike, lockout, or picket, and the employment of minors. For example, it is an offence under s. 3(6) of the Labour Act 20073 for a person to employ, or require or permit, a child who is under the age of fourteen years to work in any circumstances prohibited by the Act. An employer found guilty of this offence is liable to a fi ne not exceeding N$20,000.00, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding four years, or to both.
Oshikundu: An indigenous fermented beverage
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Embashu, Werner; Cheikhyoussef, Ahmad; Kahaka, Gladys K.
Oshikundu is a common beverage in Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena, Oshikoto and Kavango West and East regions of Namibia. As in many parts of Africa, cereal foods and beverages form part of the daily diet in these regions. Cereal beverages, such as oshikundu, undergo fermentation, which is a natural process that has been used for many years as an economical form of food preservation. Fermentation kills harmful microorganisms and prolongs the shelf life of basic foodstuffs; it also enhances the nutritional value and organoleptic quality of them, as it does to their quality and stability. Oshikundu fermentation is dominated by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The use of LAB offers many advantages, such as increasing food palatability and improving the quality of foods and beverages. Using starter cultures has led to the large-scale production of fermented cereal beverages in many parts of the world. However, the inconsistency of the organoleptic properties of oshikundu remains a challenge in household processing technology. Consumer choice is greatly influenced by the sensory attributes of oshikundu, such as its aroma and taste. Furthermore, the brewing technology depends on backslopping of an unknown starter culture, preventing the successful production of it on a large scale.
Of storying and storing: ‘Reading’ Lichtenecker’s voice recordings
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Hoffman, A.
With the invention of the phonograph – or sound/voice writer – by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877, the human voice could become an object. What so far had been the elusive, ephemeral effect of sound waves could be captured and stored on Edison wax cylinders. As an object the voice could at once be separated from its source and social setting, become transportable, but also indexical to its absent referent. The phonograph, writes Erika Brady, ‘was distinctively the product of 19th century scientific and social preoccupations’ (1999, p. 11) of which the collecting of (exotic) objects was certainly one. The voice, conserved on wax cylinders, could become part of ‘accumulative, itemcentered, indexic’ collections that were treasured by museums, academic institutions, as well as medical collections (1999, p. 14). The new technology of voice-recording was almost immediately introduced to the study of folklore and to anthropology. Shortly after the recording of voice had become possible, its storage was institutionalised. In Berlin the Phonogramm-Archiv was founded in 1900. Erich von Hornbostel, the Director of the Archive between 1905 and 1933, saw the aim of the archive as creating a collection of musical phonograms of all peoples of the world. The recordings were thought to provide comparative material of modes of expression – both in language and in music – that were deemed key to the cultural character of peoples.1 Today the Phonogramm-Archiv in Berlin is one of several archives in Europe that host immense historical sound and voice collections from many formerly colonised countries.2 To ensure the accumulation of such a comprehensive collection, it was the strategy of the archive to equip German researchers and travellers with a phonograph and wax cylinders. The German artist Hans Lichtenecker was one of them.
Liberals and non-racism in Namibia’s settler society? Advocate Israel Goldblatt’s engagement with Namibian nationalists in the 1960s
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Henrichsen, Dag
Namibia’s settler society has a very weak, indeed almost non-existent tradition of advocacy of non-racism. Up to the early 1970s, none of the settlers’ political parties postulated principles of non-racism – that is individually based citizenship and democratic rights as well as legal, economic and social opportunities irrespective of apartheid’s racial designations and ascriptions. This is in contrast, for example, to political parties in ‘white’ South Africa or Zimbabwe (See Hancock, 1980; Marks, 1995; Rich, 1984; Vigne, 1997).2 South African visitors to Windhoek in the early 1960s, whether Ruth First, the radical left-wing journalist and writer or the Vice-President of the South African Liberal Party, Randolph Vigne, were either appalled or expressed grave disillusionment with respect to the prospect of any European non-racial political activity in this South African colony. Ruth First stated in 1963: ‘It remains a frightening fact that not a single white political leader in South West Africa has ever advocated a non-racial democracy’ (1963, p. 54). Two years earlier, Randolph Vigne had summed up his talks in Windhoek with, amongst others, Advocate Israel Goldblatt and African nationalists like Clemens Kapuuo, Levy Nganjone or Zedekia Ngavirue by stating: ‘If Goldblatt is right, and it is an impossibility to build bridges at this stage [in early 1961], the best hope of bringing about a non-racial group inside SWA and avert[ing] a racial clash, is to afford travel and study to some of the young African leaders.
Hendrik Witbooi and Samuel Maharero: The Ambiguity of Heroes
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Hillebrecht, Werner
Hendrik Witbooi and Samuel Maharero are two familiar icons. Both of these portraits were probably taken in the same style, but on different occasions, by the Windhoek photographer Lange. Both men started their careers as leaders in a controversial way, Hendrik by rebelling against his father, Kaptein Moses Witbooi; Samuel by succeeding his father Maharero in violation of traditional succession rules. Both led their people in the struggle against German colonial rule. Witbooi died from a German bullet in 1905. He was buried in a secret, forgotten grave near Vaalgras, which has not been rediscovered. Maharero died in exile in Bechuanaland in 1923, eight years after German rule ended, and seventeen years after he had left; indeed he only returned to Namibia for his reburial in Okahandja. Both are remembered to this day by their respective communities in an annual commemoration, and both had a history of fighting against each other, and side by side, both for the Germans, and against the Germans. This chapter focuses on Hendrik Witbooi, as it is mainly based on research of his correspondence, but Samuel Maharero also appears again and again, as their stories are inextricably linked. The chapter should not be understood as an attempt to tear down monuments. In any case, although he deserves a monument, Witbooi does not have one, just an empty grave at Heroes Acre, Windhoek, and a memorial stone in Gibeon. In my personal opinion, Hendrik Witbooi is a hero for a number of reasons, and that he died from a German bullet is but the least of them. But this chapter is a reminder of the complexity of history and that ‘heroes’ are rarely as flawless as popular versions of history would like to portray. Contemporary images of cartoon and ‘Hollywood Heroes’ create expectations that run the risk of obscuring histories that contain different and discordant perspectives.
The Kavango legislative council
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Nambadi, Aaron
The Bantustan policy, as implemented by the South African colonial government in South Africa and later in South West Africa (Namibia), served different social, political and economical purposes. After the victory of the National Party in 1948, the colonial government of South Africa embarked upon the strategy of separate development for the different ‘native nations’. The Bantustan system fragmented the African majority population in South Africa and South West Africa into groupings along ethnic lines (the ‘divide and rule’ strategy). The strategy entailed the actual granting of homerule and then self-determination and eventually independence to a few African ethnic states, the homelands. The introduction of homelands for the majority of the African people promoted controlled political and economic opportunities in the Bantustan peripheries, which would be sufficient to entice an emergent African beneficiary class into collaborating with South Africa in the control and suppression of the subordinated population, without simultaneously providing the class with sufficient muscle to become a significant competitor for power. It might be argued that the success of Namibia’s liberation struggle was also dependent upon the failure of this alternative political framework. However, the existing historiography has largely ignored the internal political dynamics of the homelands, whilst the relevant literature that does exist has focused mainly on ‛Ovamboland’ (Tötemeyer, 1978; Kössler, 2005; Cooper, 2001) This chapter is drawn from a more extensive thesis that was concerned with examining the Kavango Legislative Council, its constitution, its powers, the role of the traditional authorities within the body, and the legislation passed by the Council.
Colonialism and the development of the contract labour system in Kavango
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Likuwa, Kletus M.
The contract labour system in Namibia was a colonial invention and needs to be explored in the context of colonial historiography. Many scholars have written on the contract labour system in Namibia. However, while there is a general understanding of the system, the Kavango as a supplier of contract labour is neglected, as the historiography has largely focused on the supply of labour from the region that was labelled ‘Ovamboland’ (Clarence-Smith and Moorsom, 1977; Cronje and Cronje, 1979; Hishongwa, 1992; Kane Berman, 1972; McKittrick, 1998; Moorsom, 1989; Cooper, 2001). However, the area known today as the regions of Kavango East and Kavango West has a significant role in the history of migrant labour in Namibia and there is an opportunity to reassess the system using a different regional context. Although labour recruitment in the Kavango had been on-going prior to 1925, it was unorganised with limited numbers of recruits collected by colonial officials, and it was only after 1925 that the South African administration finally managed to formalise labour recruitment. The formalisation of the contract labour system in the Kavango occurred with the formation of the Northern Labour Organisation (NLO) and Southern Labour Organisation (SLO) in 1925. These were later amalgamated into the South West Africa Native Labour Association (SWANLA) which recruited labourers from the Kavango and Ovambo in the early 1940s until the collapse of the contract labour system in 1972. Using qualitative research methods to gather and analyse data, this paper employs oral interviews, archival and written sources to explain the encounters of the Kavango population with colonialism and asks why both German (1885-1915) and South African (1915-1989) colonial authorities needed labourers from Kavango, and what strategies the colonial administration used to extract labour.
Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants used for the treatment of cancer
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Dushimemaria, Florence; Mumbengegwi, Davis R.; Bock, Ronnie A.
The global burden of cancer continues to increase in both developed and developing countries. This is largely attributed to a growing aged population as both the numbers of people and life expectancies increase. Another important factor is the adoption of lifestyles that increase the risk of developing cancer (Jemal et al., 2011). Lifestyle choices, such as smoking tobacco, consuming alcohol, being physically inactive and eating unhealthily, contribute to the upsurge in cancer cases. Siegel, Naishadham and Jemal (2012) estimated that about 1,638,910 new incidences of cancer and about 577,190 deaths due to cancer occurred worldwide in 2012. They further estimated that 56% of the cancer cases and 64% of cancer-related deaths occurred in developing countries (Jemal et al., 2011), indicating that the developing world is gradually having to shoulder more of the burden and where cancer survival rates tend to be lower.
Colonial monuments in a post-colonial era: A case study of the Equestrian monument
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Elago, Helvi I.
Colonial monuments litter the Namibian landscape, but a shallow reading of their significance fails to recognise the layers of meaning that have attached to these landmarks over the passage of time. The issue that we need to explore is what happens to the monuments, memorials, museums and other sites representing the previous regime’s core values and memories when a new regime, based on very different values, comes to power? When the ruling government changes, the state is faced with basic decisions concerning the past and what to do with the inherited ‘public history’ such as the monuments, memorials, museums and other symbols of power of the previous regime. In some African countries, like Angola, Kenya, Malawi and Angola, heritage sites and objects from the past regime were removed and destroyed as a way of breaking away from the past (Kriger, 1995, p. 141; Marschall, 2008, p. 350; Salvador and Rodrigues, 2012, p. 423). But is this the right way of dealing with a painful past? In Namibia and South Africa there has been little removal or destruction of colonial heritage. Instead, as an alternative for changing the symbolic inherited landscape, the governments have created new sites commemorating previously ignored events and heroes in the struggle to end apartheid, e.g. Heroes Acre in Windhoek, Namibia, and Freedom Park in Pretoria, South Africa. In fact, the Equestrian monument that used to stand next to the Alte Feste located in Windhoek, which was moved in 2009 and ‘removed’ in 2013 is the only colonial monument to date to have been changed since independence. The new Namibian regime has emphasised the importance of teaching the new generation about history and seems to have recognised the value of having tangible commemorative sites such as monuments and memorials.
The gendered politics of the SWAPO camps during the Namibian liberation struggle
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Akawa, Martha
This chapter looks at the sexual politics of the SWAPO camps (civilian and military) in Angola and Zambia.1 Its purpose is to explore issues around allegations of sexual abuse and unwelcome sexual advances, and issues of sexuality, against the backdrop of SWAPO’s policy on gender equality. Did these allegations undermine the goals and objectives of the leadership, particularly the women’s leadership that had gender equality and women’s emancipation as one of its main goals? The chapter will also seek to question whether a rhetorical commitment to equality was translated into practical equality in terms of the political structures and socio-economic power relationships in the camps. SWAPO made a clear and a firm ideological commitment in publications and speeches that, in the liberation struggle, women were equal to men and that equality between men and women was a central principle of the party. Iina Soiri has argued that the rhetoric of sexual emancipation became more pronounced from the mid-1970s because of a combination of factors. The United Nations announced that the International Decade for Women would take place between 1975 and 1985 and, in 1976, SWAPO adopted a more radical ‘Political Programme’ based on the principles of ‘scientific socialism’ (Soiri, 1996, pp. 67, 85).
Indigenous knowledge of Namibia
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Chinsembu, Kazhila C.; Cheikhyoussef, Ahmad; Mumbengegwi, Davis R.; Kandawa-Schulz, M.; Kasanda, Choshi D.; Kazembe, Lawrence N.
Why this book, Indigenous Knowledge of Namibia? Nowadays, indigenous knowledge has gained prominence and attracted public interest due to its numerous applications in science and innovation: biotechnology, health, bioprospecting, pharmaceuticals, medicinal plants, agriculture, food preparation, mathematics, natural resource management, climate change and astronomy. There are many niche players in the field of indigenous knowledge in Namibia and many studies being carried out. Thus, although not all aspects of Namibia's indigenous knowledge are covered in this book, most readers from various walks of life - laypersons, scholars and policy makers - will find this book a very useful companion. The content of this book serves as a good starting point, because 'we cannot go further into the future without looking deeper into the past' (anonymous). Through their laboratory and scientific studies, the authors of this book server as guides through the journey to discover and record the indigenous knowledge of Namibia society. More importantly, their individual and collective works endevour to add value to Namibia's indigenous knowledge. The voyage and value addition are aimed at bringing greater clarity to some of the most perplexing aspects of indigenous knowledge in Namibia. Authors are aware of local communities need to benefit from their indigenous knowledge. That being said, the aim of this book is not to appropriate the indigenous knowledge of local communities, as most indigenous knowledge is already in the public domain.
Solidarity with liberation in Namibia: An analytical eyewitness account from a West German perspective
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Kossler, Reinhart
When asked for an eyewitness account, one’s own personal experience takes centre stage. In addition to drawing on that experience, I have carried out scholarly studies on the solidarity movement, particularly in relation to Southern Africa.1 It is a different task to reflect on my own involvement. I had been active in the student movement, in the movement against the war in Vietnam, and similar work for some years, before Southern Africa became the focus of my attention. I remember being part of a campaign in Heidelberg in 1968, aimed at alerting people to the colonial wars in what were then the Portuguese colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. That was my first stint of solidarity work with national liberation movements in Southern Africa. In 1979, after completing my PhD, I got my first job as Executive Secretary of the Informationsstelle Südliches Afrika (Information Service Southern Africa) in Bonn, popularly known as ISSA.2 That catapulted me into intense work in ‘counterinformation’, writing articles for a monthly magazine and publishing solidarity literature, all efforts devoted to making the West German public aware of the reality of apartheid and colonialism, to propagating the aims of the national liberation struggles and the overwhelming case for majority rule, and to helping activists in the local chapters of a whole range of organisations to strengthen their hand when they had to argue their case during public events, as well as in everyday life. The move turned out to be much more decisive than I had thought when I started the job.
Heritage education in the school curriculum: A critical reflection
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Likando, Gilbert N.
This chapter critically highlights the importance of heritage education in the school curriculum in Namibia. It does so in relation to John Patrick’s five pitfalls that heritage educators must avoid in the process of designing a heritage education school curriculum or infusing the right content into existing curriculum, namely: elitism, extreme pluralism, localism, romanticism and anti-intellectualism (Patrick, 1989). The chapter links this perspective by Patrick of heritage education infusion and integration in the school curriculum to the on-going reform process in education in Namibia. Debates have loomed on how the integration or infusion could be done. While some proponents propose the creation of an entirely new curriculum for heritage education in schools, others argue for the infusion of heritage education content into the current school curriculum by drawing on many disciplines such as history, geography, the natural and social sciences, the arts and literature as the best approach.
Harvesting and consumption of the giant African bullfrog, a delicacy in northern Namibia
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Okeyo, Daniel O.; Kandjengo, Lineekela; Kashea, Martha M.
Namibia covers an area of approximately 800,000 square kilometres and has a human population of about 2.1 million. This gives an average density of about 2.6 people per square kilometre. Most of the people of Namibia belong to one of five main ethnic groups of African origin: the Aawambo, Ovaherero, Kavango, Caprivian, and Damara and Nama peoples. The diet of ethnic Namibians comprises a variety of foods such as millet, sorghum, maize, sweet potatoes, groundnuts and fruits. Millet and maize are staple foods. Fruits are mainly wild and indigenous. Staple foods in northern Namibia are generally accompanied with indigenous vegetables, beef, lamb, mutton or fish. Giant African bullfrogs – locally known as efuma (sing.) or omafuma (pl.) – form a delicacy, especially during the rainy season (Figure 10.1). The Aawambo are not alone in appreciating these frogs (Pyxicephalus adspersus) as a delicacy. Reports exist of others also eating it within Namibia as well as elsewhere in southern Africa. For example, the Nsenga people in the eastern Luangwa Valley (Eastern Province, Zambia) also consume whole bullfrogs, which they locally call kanyama kaliye fupa – the animal without bones. The giant African bullfrog is distributed widely throughout southern and eastern Africa (Figure 10.2) and found in areas of Namibia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya (Channing, 1991; Conradie, Branch, Braack, & Manson, 2010; IUCN, 2011). It is reported to occur in the central and northern areas of Namibia (Channing 1991; Griffin, 1997) and is found in considerable numbers on the northern plains, especially during the early rain season.
Finnish solidarity with the liberation struggle of Namibia: A documentation project
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Peltola, Pekka
Namibia’s independence was won primarily by the efforts of Namibians themselves. Acknowledging this, it is also important to remember that the liberation struggle of Namibians took place outside its borders as well: it started in Cape Town, spread to the United Nations in New York, established itself in Tanzania, then in Zambia and Angola. The diplomatic, political and armed struggle led by SWAPO could be fought only with the material, political, and other support given by many governments and nongovernmental organisations. Thousands of people dedicated themselves to supporting the fight against apartheid and for a free and independent Namibia. In order to write a comprehensive history of the struggle, a rich database documenting the mainly selfless efforts rendered by solidarity activists in other countries is necessary. For this reason Finland has contributed by collecting documentary evidence of the work done in Finland or by Finns for the struggle and, therefore, the initiative of the Archives of Anti-Colonial Resistance and the Liberation Struggle (AACRLS) project was welcomed in Finland, where a committee was formally established for that purpose in 2004 as a part of the Namibian effort to save this history.
Indigenous knowledge used in the management of human–wildlife conflict along the borders of the Etosha National Park
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Lendelvo, Selma M.; Angula, Margaret; Mfune, John K.
Humans and wildlife in Africa have coexisted for millennia, but conflicts between them have become common phenomena (Shemwetta & Kideghesho, 2000). Worldwide, borders between humans and wild spaces have become blurred, particularly those surrounding protected areas. As a result, wildlife frequently moves out of protected areas and enters nearby human settlements (Ogra, 2008). In addition, the frequency of human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs) in these areas has grown in recent decades, largely because of the increase in human population, the expansion of human activities and changes in wildlife management systems (Graham, Beckerman, & Thirgood, 2005). In this chapter, we describe how commercial and communal farmers who live along the borders of Etosha National Park (ENP) use their indigenous knowledge in dealing with HWC. We interviewed 48 farmers from cattle posts in the communal areas north of ENP and 51 commercial farmers on private land south of ENP through a semi-structured questionnaire. The majority of farmers indicated that they have techniques and strategies to protect their livestock, crops, families and property from being harmed by problem wildlife. Understanding the indigenous knowledge that farmers have to deal with HWC is important for improving wildlife management systems in Namibia.
Waking the dead: Civilian casualties in the Namibian liberation struggle
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Silvester, Jeremy; Akawa, Martha
One day in early January 1984, an old Ford truck set out from Ruacana. Twenty-five workers stood crowded in the back. After travelling just five kilometres from the small town the truck drove over a double landmine. The explosion left a huge crater in the ground and immediately killed ten of the people in the truck, whilst another six were severely injured, losing hands, arms and legs. None of the names of those who had died were provided in the press coverage of the incident. On 23 January 1988, four young people were driving a Toyota Hilux van near their home when a unit of the Koevoet paramilitary police unit opened fire on their vehicle riddling it with bullets and totally destroying it. Cornelius Nghipukuula, aged 27, was killed immediately and two of the other occupants were wounded. The three survivors were told to report to the police station the next day to pay a R100 fine as an ‘admission of guilt’ for driving during a curfew. These were just two incidents amongst many that occurred during the Namibian war of independence in which the casualties were not soldiers, but civilians. Yet the absence of the names of those killed in one of the largest landmine explosions that took place during the war seems symptomatic of the way in which civilian victims of the war remain unrecognised in accounts of the liberation struggle.
Revolutionary songs as a response to colonialism in Namibia
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Mbenzi, Petrus A.
Traditional songs in Africa were often used as a weapon against indiscipline in a society (Finnegan, 1970). Transgressors were ridiculed and shamed through singing when boys and girls met for social dancing in an open space (which usually took place in the evening) and vulgar language was hurled against the offender. Misdemeanours and the shameful acts of certain people were also criticized through action songs. On these occasions, the names of ‘alleged’ offenders were mentioned as well as the offences they had committed. These songs were also performed when people did teamwork for threshing, weeding and so forth. During the struggle for independence, the same strategy was applied. Ruth Finnegan (1970, p. 273) argues that it would be a mistake to assume too easily that there is necessarily a complete break in continuity between traditional political poetry and that of modern politics. Songs were used to sensitise the oppressed to their plight and to expose the iniquities of the old regime. The proponents and protagonists of the apartheid system were criticised and Namibians were encouraged to resist oppressive laws. To boost their morale and demonstrate their indefatigable quest for emancipation from the yoke of colonialism, the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) fighters composed various revolutionary songs. With the attainment of independence, the popularity of these songs has dwindled. They are sung on rare occasions and it is feared that some songs may vanish with time if they are not properly recorded and documented to ensure their survival. As a result the historical events inherent in these songs may drift into obscurity. This chapter investigates the functions of revolutionary songs in the Namibian independence struggle and identifies their most important themes. The main aims of the chapter are to highlight the historical value of the songs and gauge their significance during the colonial era.
Namibian leafy vegetables: From traditional to scientific knowledge, current status and applications
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Mushabati, Lameck F.; Kahaka, Gladys K.; Cheikhyoussef, Ahmad
For centuries, our forefathers traditionally used vegetables that grow naturally in the wild. Many enjoyed a relish prepared with traditional vegetables. Moreover, they used these vegetables to treat a number of ailments. This is our African heritage - our Namibian leafy vegetables. These vegetables fall under a broad category that has come to be termed as leafy vegetables (LVs) or African leafy vegetables (ALVs). In this chapter, all Namibia leafy vegetables will be referred to as ALVs and NLVs interchangeably.
Messages given to adolescents and young adults during initiation ceremonies and their relation to HIV/AIDS
(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Haihambo, Cynthy K.
According to Namibia’s national population census, the total population of the country stood at 2,113,077 people distributed over its 14 political regions (NSA, 2014). Of this, 43.1% of the population inhabited urban areas, and 56.9% lived in rural areas. The average household size in Namibia is 4.4. The population under the age of 15 stands at 760,707 (36%) while the population aged 15 years and above is 1,352,369 (64%). The employed population, which includes part-time and seasonal employment, stands at 690,019 (70.4%) and the total population that is unemployed is 290,762 (29.6%) (NSA, 2014). Human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is regarded as one of the biggest threats to economic development in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV is acquired through the transmission of bodily fluids such as blood, vaginal fluids and semen. It is mostly contracted through sex (both heteroand homosexual) that involves the exchange of bodily fluids between individuals. Once it has entered the body, it compromises the individual’s immune system and weakens the body’s ability to fight diseases. In its most advanced stage, it develops from a viral infection to a disease that can lead to disability and death. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest HIV prevalence, globally, and is termed the worst affected region and is widely regarded as the ‘epicentre’ of the global HIV epidemic.

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