Die Kavango-gebied
Abstract
Against the background of an arid and almost uncultivated Namibia with the only perennial rivers on the borders and a national economy which is mainly dependent on extensive stock-farming, the Kavango region is well endowed with an annual rainfall of 500 -600 mm and access to the mighty Kavango River with its yearly average run-off of 10, 5 Mm3 -more or less eight times more than the internal run-off of Namibia. The region also offers the best cropping potential and definite possibilities for forestry, aquaculture and tourism
The aim of the study is two fold: Firstly the natural resources of the Kavango region are conceptualised in a regional study and, secondly, the proposals formulated over the past 130 years for its development, are critically evaluated
Few of the past development proposals have been realised. The utilisation of the Kavango region's natural resources is restricted by certain inherent physical limitations which are reflected in a overpopulated zone along the south bank of the river and a quarantine barrier known as the Red Line further towards the south. The limitations are accompanied by socio-economic problems following from communal land ownership, a poor infrastructure and a shortage of capital for development purposes. The local inhabitants were never involved in the formulation of planning proposals and development was aimed at replacing their subsistence economy with a commercial system, in stead of first changing the traditional perceptions of the community and then identifying development possibilities in the subsistence economy. The irrigation potential of the Kavango River, moreover, was always overestimated and overemphasized
The conclusion of the study is that a new approach towards planning for the Kavango region is essential. The study emphasizes not so much what is to be done but how it could be done. As an informed scientific spokesman of a region and its inhabitants, the regional geographer can play a significant role in formulating these new procedures
Key words: regional geography, Kavango basin, Kavango region (Namibia), natural resources, environmental limitations, Bantu subsistence economy, acculturation, regional development, community development
Description
Includes bibliographical references
Keywords
Rural development, Natural resources, Kavango