The Indigenous World 2025: Namibia

Written on 25 April 2025. Posted in Namibia

The Republic of Namibia celebrated its 34^th year of independence in March 2024. The Indigenous Peoples of Namibia include the various San groups, the Ovatue, Ovahimba, Ovatjimba and, potentially, a number of other peoples including the Ovazemba, Damara, Nama, and the distinct Nama group of the Topnaars (!Aonin). Taken together, the Indigenous Peoples of Namibia represent less than 3% of the total population of the country, which was over 3.2 million as of the 2023 census. The San (Bushmen) number between 28,000 and 35,000 and account for between 1.04% and 1.33% of the national population, although some estimates hold that the San population is much higher.

They include the Khwe, the Hai||om, the Ju|’hoansi and ‡Kao ||Aesi (southern Ju|’hoansi), the!Xun, the Naro, and the!Xóõ. Each of the San groups speaks its own language and has distinct customs, traditions, and histories. The San were mainly hunter-gatherers in the past but, today, many have diversified livelihoods. Over 80% of the San have been dispossessed of their ancestral lands and resources, and they are now some of the poorest and most marginalized peoples in the country. The Ovahimba, Ovatue (Ovatwa), and Ovazemba are largely pastoral people, formerly also relying on hunting and gathering, and residing in the semi-arid mountains and steppes of north-west Namibia (Kunene Region). Together, the pastoralists number some 29,535, or 1.14% of the total Namibian population.

The Namibian government prefers to use the term “Marginalized Communities” when referring to the San, Ovatue and Ovahimba, support for whom falls under the Division Marginalised Communities (DMC) under the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare. The Constitution of Namibia prohibits discrimination on the grounds of ethnic or tribal affiliation but does not specifically recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Namibia voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) when it was adopted in 2007 but has not ratified ILO Convention No. 169. Namibia is a signatory to several other binding international agreements that affirm the norms represented in the UNDRIP, such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Namibia representatives attended the 23^rd session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York from 15-26 April 2024. A draft White Paper on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Namibia, first drafted a decade ago, remains awaiting approval by Cabinet.

 This article is part of the 39^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here

Introduction

The Republic of Namibia faced significant political and environmental challenges in 2024. His Excellency President Hage Geingob passed away in February 2024 and was replaced by his Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba. A presidential election was held on 30 November 2024, and Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was elected, the first woman president in the country’s history, although the election was marred by poor coordination and was subject to a legal challenge by opposition parties, due to be heard by the Electoral Court in 2025.

President Nangolo Mbumba discussed the State of the Nation on 14 March 2024.^[1] Some of the issues raised in the Namibia State of the Nation Address included the socio-economic status of the country as a whole, efforts to make land distribution more equitable, ways to improve the well-being of women, youth, and children, changes in the mining sector, housing enhancement, and small business enterprise development in Namibia.

The President of Namibia declared a drought emergency in Namibia on 22 May 2024. Subsequently, the Namibian government said that 723 animals would be culled to feed the hungry, including 83 elephants and 300 zebras, a decision which drew international criticism. The drought, said to be the worst in the country in a century, saw sizeable numbers of people seeking food assistance.^[2]

Food and water were provided to remote communities in Kunene, Otjozondjupa, and Zambezi Regions by government, assisted by a number of different NGOs.

As of the end of 2024, there were 331,000 people registered for the country’s drought relief programme, a quarter of whom were marginalized community members.

Land issues

In 2024, land issues arose in Namibia relating to decisions of the Ancestral Land Rights Commission. Several ancestral land claims have been brought before the Namibian High Court in the past but none of them were successful. They did, however, set important precedents.^[3] Serious land conflicts arose in Kavango West Region as a result of the oil and gas prospecting activities of ReconAfrica, a Canadian oil exploration company.^[4] Local communities, including Indigenous communities, and non-governmental organizations such as the Namibian Association of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), the Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organizations (NACSO) and the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) discussed the impacts of the ReconAfrica drilling activities, including the effects on the water table and new roads and fences along with areas that had been designated as off-limits. Local community members, including Indigenous people, raised serious questions about the effects of the oil and gas prospecting activities and what was happening to communities in the impact area.^[5] One such serious impact is the displacement of entire communities without compensation, which further adds to intergroup conflict once these communities move to other lands. By the end of 2024, the ReconAfrica activities had not demonstrated the presence of oil and gas but fracking and other activities were continuing.

In Kunene Region, the Ovaherero (principally the Ovahimba) of Kaokoland, along with Angola, formed a Biocultural Community Protocol with support from International Rivers and Natural Justice.^[6] This has the aim of articulating community values, rights and responsibilities under customary, national and international law, and is relevant to land issues, conservation and particularly the Baynes Dam project, which would flood traditional areas in Angola close to the Namibian border. In southern Namibia, the Nama Traditional Leaders Association requested inclusion in the Green Hydrogen Project, a proposed large-scale renewables project in the Tsau //Khaeb National Park, some areas of which are claimed as historically Nama traditional lands.^[7] No response had been received as of the end of 2024.

In Tsumkwe District of Otjozondjupa Region, people from other areas of Namibia (Ovambo, Kavango and Herero) continued to enter the district with their cattle and graze and fence illegally, especially in the Nǂa Jaqna Conservancy.^[8] In Zambezi Region, there were land-use conflicts between Mbukushu people and Khwe San in and around Bwabwata National Park and areas to the east.^[9] These conflicts included disagreements over agricultural field clearing, and rights to gather wild food and natural resources inside Bwabwata.

Efforts were being made in May 2024 to collect data on land and population in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in anticipation of filing an ancestral land claim. Nyae Nyae is the only area of Namibia where there are subsistence hunting rights for the Ju|’hoansi San, and it was here that the government wanted to do away with these rights while maintaining the hunting quota for private hunting companies engaged in joint ventures with the Conservancy.^[10]

Issues affecting youth and children

The Government of Namibia has established programmes in a number of different ministries to deal with issues involving youth and children. These include (1) Education, Arts, and Culture and (2) Sport, Youth, and National Service. The ministries that deal with education also focus on children and youth. The Division of Disability Affairs and Marginalized Communities under the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare reported that progress had been made in 2024 in addressing poverty, inequality, and women and children’s well-being among marginalized communities.^[11] Malnutrition and hunger due to the drought were affecting children in various regions of the country, including Omaheke, Kavango West, Otjozondjupa, and Kunene.^[12]

The Division Marginalized Communities (DMC) progressed in 2024 in its partnership with the Palms for Life Fund, including the establishment of several Early Childhood Development centres, and providing assistance to over 1,000 San youth for vocational training. Language classes were provided to Ju|’hoansi youth in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, and the Khwe language was taught to youth in Kavango East and Zambezi Regions. The National Youth Council of Namibia took part in meetings in several towns in Namibia which have sizeable numbers of marginalized communities. One of these meetings was held in Gobabis in 2024.

Government of Namibia offices, Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) and the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation Namibia (NNDFN) facilitated workshops on natural resource management and relationships to health. Some of these workshops included Indigenous youth and children. The Ministry of Health and Social Services offered vaccinations for childhood diseases. The Topnaars (!Aonin) received training in fisheries and marine resource management, some of them aimed at youth. Livelihood support projects were established in marginalized communities in seven different regions of the country. UNESCO, in partnership with the DMC, held a dialogue on the safeguarding of Namibian Indigenous languages in August 2024, as a planning exercise for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032.^[13]

At least 150 San youth were involved in the country’s Community Forest and Green Energy programmes in 2024.^[14] Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) were being tapped in Namibia to cope with the challenges of climate change, which Marginalized Communities and Indigenous Peoples in Namibia were in full support of. Feedback from members of Marginalized Communities revealed that they were excited about some of the new directions for Namibia.

Robert K. Hitchcock is an anthropology professor at the University of New Mexico and a member of the Board of the Kalahari Peoples Fund (KPF), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Melinda C. Kelly is a member of the Kalahari Peoples Fund (KPF). This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ben Begbie-Clench is a freelance consultant who has worked extensively on San issues throughout Southern Africa, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Maria Sapignoli is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of  Milan, Italy. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This article is part of the 39^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here

Notes and references

^[1] Nangolo Mbumba. “State of the Nation Address by His Excellency Nangola Mbumba on the Republic of Namibia, 14 March 2024.” Windhoek: Government of Namibia.

^[2] Namibia Red Cross Society, UNICEF Namibia, the World Food Programme, and the United Nations Development Programme reports, 2024.

^[3] Odendaal, Willem. “We are beggars on our own land…” An analysis of Tsumib v Government of the Republic of Namibia and its implications for ancestral land claims in Namibia. Basel: Basler Afrika Bibliographen 2024.

^[4] These conflicts were reported in previous issues of The Indigenous World.

^[5] Annette Hübschle, Kakuna Kerina, Emmanuel Mogende, and Kekgaoditse Supin. Voices from the Frontlines in the Okavango River Basin: Towards a Cooperative Model of Environmental Activism in the Global South. International Journal for Crime, Justice, and Social Democracy 13(1); Namibia Nature Foundation, personal communication, 18 November 2024. www.nnf.org.na

^[6] International Rivers. “Biocultural Community Protocol of the Ovaherero of the Kaokoland in Angola and Namibia (the OvaHimba).” June 2024. https://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/reports-and-publications/biocultural-community-protocol-of-the-ovaherero-of-the-kaokoland-in-angola-and-namibia-the-ovahimba

^[7] Namibian Broadcasting Corporation. “Inclusion of Nama people in green hydrogen development stressed.” April 2024. https://nbcnews.na/node/105115

^[8] Reports by the Nǂa Jaqna Conservancy Council, June and November 2024.

^[9] Staff reporter, Hambukushu Questions Khwe Designation, New Era 03-08 2024, Kyaramacan Peoples Association, personal communication, 18 November 2024. The Khwe Traditional Authority had yet to be established by the Namibian government as of the end of 2024.

^[10] Information from the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, 16 June 2024.

^[11] The Division of Disability Affairs and Marginalized Communities Annual Report, December 2024.

^[12] Regional Administrations of Kavango West, Otjozondjupa, and Kunene reports.

^[13] UNESCO Windhoek. “Indigenous voices, pathways to a sustainable future: A national dialogue on the safeguarding of Namibian indigenous languages and contributions to scientific knowledge.” 8 August 2024. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/indigenous-voices-pathways-sustainable-future-national-dialogue-safeguarding-namibian-indigenous?hub=66970

^[14] Information from the Division Marginalized Communities (DMC).

Tags: Land rights, Youth, Conservation