Land use practices in Caprivi’s changing political environment
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Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
This paper presents an account of developments that led to present land use
practices in the eastern parts of Caprivi and the eff ects these practices have on
the ecosystem. In the pre-colonial period (–1890), the early inhabitants of east
of the Kwando River were hunters and gatherers. Climatic and hydrological
conditions enabled the fi rst Bantu communities to practice settled subsistence
agriculture in the 18th and 19th centuries, a time when the Lozi and the Kololo kings ruled this area. Its location between perennial rivers made eastern parts of Caprivi good and easily defensible grazing area. Peripheral location and prevalence
of malaria and cattle diseases made the area less tempting for European and South
African farmers, but also made the colonial administration of east of the Kwando
River diffi cult for Germany 1890–1915 and South Africa 1915–1990. The paper
reviews published works and government documents, which is combined with
fi eld observations and aerial photos of the area. In particular, our analysis focuses
on Salambala conservancy because of its successes and many controversies.
The analysis shows that indeed, enactments of law did not address land use in
the manner that would have led to fulfi lment of the needs of subsistence farmers
until Namibia’s independence in 1990. Nowadays, almost the whole area
is still intensively used for small-scale subsistence farming and agricultural
practices have remained traditional. The article describes the eff orts of previous
administrations and outlines several factors that accounts for present-day land
use practices. This account concludes that intensifi cation of grazing and clearing
Description
Keywords
Land use, Caprivi
Citation
Colpaert, A., Matengu, K. & Polojarvi, K. (2013). Land use practices in Caprivi’s changing political environment. Journal for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(2): 141-162.