Livelihood challenges amongst the !Xun San in the Okongo community forest and conservancy
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Date
2025
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
The !Xun San are one of the most marginalised people in the Okongo Community
Forest and Conservancy. Traditionally, their economic system largely centred on
hunting and gathering. The arrival of the bantu-speaking people in the San’s traditional
hunting grounds, however, changed their economic system and livelihoods as the
newcomers were primarily agro-pastoralists. For survival, the San were compelled to
adopt a new economic system based on farming and trading – economic activities
which they were not familiar with. The disruption of the San’s economic systems
negatively impacted on their livelihoods, driving most of them into poverty and
destitution. How the !Xun San have been affected, the challenges they face and their
survival strategies have not been adequately researched. Thus, this study sought to
assess the livelihood challenges amongst the !Xun San in the Okongo Community
Forest and Conservancy, Ohangwena region. The study adopted a qualitative approach
consisting of face-face in-depth interviews carried out with !Xun San households and
other key-informants in the area. The study findings indicated that the majority of the
!Xun San in the conservancy were experiencing acute levels of poverty, suffered high
levels of unemployment and lived in deplorable housing conditions. Their poverty
emanated from the fact that most did not own land and therefore could not productively
produce for themselves. In addition, the majority did not possess productive assets to
enhance their livelihoods. Those that could access land had no skills nor financial
capacity to participate fully in farming or other economic activities such as trading.
Being highly marginalised and vulnerable to poverty, the !Xun San in the conservancy
were resorting to participating in piecework, being engaged by the Owambo to do
various chores in return for money. This was, however, not yielding much returns
economically. A few others were engaging in brewing traditional beer to supplement
their income. Overall, the majority of the !Xun San were facing multiple material
deprivations. The study concluded that the material and socio-economic conditions of
the San were, in comparison to other population groups, precarious and require urgent
attention. The study recommends that government and non-governmental
organizations take a pro-active approach and put in place programmes to address the
economic and material challenges faced by the !Xun San.
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Geography
Keywords
!Xun San, Livelihoods, Omauni Forest, Okongo Community Forest and Conservancy, University of Namibia, Namibia