Acronyms

NWFPs--- Non-Wood Forest Products

4 -O regions -- Four regions in the north central Namibia their names starts with a letter `O' and form a bigger region used to be known as OWAMBO (Ovamboland).

CRIAA--- Centre for Research Information Africa Action

GRN ---- Government of the Republic of Namibia

FAO --- UN Food and Agricultural Organization

N$ --- Namibia Dollar (currency)

NGO -- Non Governmental Organisation

SADC ---- Southern Africa Development Community

GTZ ---- Germany Development Agency (in German)

GDS ---- Germany Development Services

KfW --- German Development Bank (in German)

RSA -- Republic of South Africa

FSTCU ---- Forestry Sector Technical Coordination Unit

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Namibia is located in the south-western part of Africa. It borders Angola and Zambia in the north, Botswana in the east, South Africa in the south and south-east, and the Atlantic Ocean in the west. It covers about 82.4 million ha. It is one of the driest countries in the region. Rains vary from below 50 mm in the south-west to 700 mm in the north-eastern corner of the country.

Namibia's forest resources constitute an important national heritage which provides both economic and environmental benefits. Due to the ecological conditions of forest growth, savannahs and dry woodlands constitute the main forest resources in Namibia. On the basis of the distribution of mean annual rainfall, the country is classified into four distinct ecological zones:

· The desert region receives less than 100 mm of mean annual rainfall and covers 22% of the land area.

· The arid region receives 100-300 mm of mean annual rainfall and covers 33% of the total land area.

· The semi-arid region receives 300-500 mm of mean annual rainfall and covers 37% of the total land area.

· The semi-humid region receives 500-700 mm of mean annual rainfall and covers 8% of the total land area.

The above ecological zones are divided according to rainfall regimes which have produced vegetation zones that have been broadly divided into three major categories; deserts, savannahs and woodlands. They are an important source of:

· Firewood used for cooking and lighting in rural areas and low income urban households;

· Construction timbers (poles and posts) in rural areas for homesteads. Timber, though not in large quantities, also used to produce highly valuable furniture (mainly from one tree species Pterocarpus angolensis);

· Food mainly used in the areas (this will be discussed further in detail);

· Materials for farm and house implements in rural areas;

· Crafts and medicine for subsistence and commercial consumption;

· Fodder for livestock;

· Wildlife habitat that forms the basis for tourism industry.

Millions of people around the world depend on forests to help meet their basic needs for food and shelter. Yet, all too often, social and economic value of trees are overlooked in development planning, in land management and in international cooperation (FAO, 1991). The Directorate of Forestry in Namibia estimates the current total economic value of forest resources to be N$ 1058.2 million per annum (see table 1 below).

Table 1 Estimated annual economic value of forest resources exploitation

Product	Main Species	Annual Value (million N$)
Construction poles	Mopane	383
Tourism	Ecosystem	218
Fence for Crop Protection	Mopane	175
Firewood	Mopane, Acacia species	131
Medicine	Various species	31.5
Kraals	Mopane	31
Charcoal	Various bush invaders	22.4
Crafts and implements	Various species	21
Mahangu baskets	Mopane	12.4
Goat forage	Various species	9.5
Fencing poles	Mopane	6.6
Food	Schelerocaria (Marula oil)	4.6
Basketry	Hyphaene species	4
Commercial logging	Pterocarpus, Baikea	2.4
mortar and pestles	Various hard wood	1.5
Beverages	Various species	1.5
Ornamental roots	Mopane	1.1
Carvings	Various species	1
Mopane worm forage	Mopane	0.5
Food	Mungite kernels	0.2
Total Economic Value		1058.2

Source: Namibia Forestry Strategic Plan, 1996

Namibia's total population is estimated at 1.7 million and the ethnic mixture ranges from the San People/Bushmen, who are heavily dependent on veld foods, up to the European origin people (whites) who are normally dependent on agricultural products and do not normally use veld food. Usually people with high income hunt for pleasure. In between there are another nine main ethnic groups whose livelihoods depend on the mixture of agricultural, livestock and veld food in different ways.

Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFP's) fall into two broad groups; Commodities and services. Commodities are subdivided further into three sections according to nature, kind and use of products. There are NWFP's of plant, animal and mineral origin. Services comprise tourism, recreation and wildlife watching, among others. Namibia has a significant number of NWFPs in rural areas.

Non-wood forest products play an important role in the local economy of the Namibian people. In the past, NWFPs were not given the importance they deserve in monetary trade. Foresters were mainly trained for timber production. Most of the financially viable forest products, among others, were saw logs, poles and wood for charcoal production. NWFPs were mainly utilised by several communities for subsistence survival. Recently, the area of NWFP has received considerable interest from different stakeholders. This can be attributable to two aspects. One is that in past years, community members who acknowledge the importance of NWFPs were illiterate, so they had no opportunity to debate and argue the role NWFPs play in rural communities.

The colonial government also ignored or simply did not want to recognise the NWFP as products with economic and nutritious value. Users have been given the opportunity and empowered to reveal and confirm the role of NWFPs utilised by different communities. The fora to discuss and develop NWFPs have initiated through different projects.

On the other hand, it was not necessary to talk about NWFP because these resources were in abundant quantities. There was no need to protect and think of sustainable use of these resources. As populations have increased, other land uses are threatening the resource base of such non-wood forest products. Such resource decreases on one hand, and on the other the demand for those products increases.

The good news for the lovers of NWFPs is that the products are now globally recognised. FAO (1995) reported that a variety of NWFPs contribute to an improved rural livelihood by providing food and nutrition, medicine, helping to generate employment and contribute to foreign exchange earnings these days. By complementing wood-based management, NWFPs offer a basis for managing forest in a more sustainable way and therefore support biodiversity conservation. It is quite good to know what efforts are being made in this area for its further development and to play its rightful role in development of many communities.

It has been noticed that rural communities sometimes, in search of NWFPs cause damage to the wood products that are perceived to be more economically important which result in negative consequences of the environment. The need for cash generating activities necessitates paying more attention on these products. A need for cash in rural communities makes people think of taking the available commodities in their areas, in this case NWFPs, in exchange of cash and other commodities.

The movement of people, who grow up in rural communities, to urban areas for employment has created a market for these rural origin products in urban areas. Hence, it becomes necessary for rural dwellers to collect NWFPs, and bring them to urban areas in exchange of cash from those people who miss these products because they have no time or knowledge on how to collect and prepare them. To most of the indigenous people of Namibia, NWFPs contribute significantly to their livelihood. In fact, one can say NWFP's play a role in day to day life for people more than wood/timber products. A number of non-wood products are being traded in the informal markets. These include products such as fruits and their by-products such as wine, nuts and oil, hot liqueurs, Mopane worms, grass, etc.

Even though not in very large quantities, some NWFPs are traded in formal markets, both local and international. Products, such as marula oils for food and cosmetic and devil's claw for medicine, managed to obtain their place in international markets. These products are discussed individually in chapter 3. Most of the information concerning the NWFPs has not been properly documented and those which have, are quite scattered. Hence, this report attempts to look at NWFPs by:

· identifying and briefly describes the general importance of NWFPs in Namibia;

· highlighting key products found and mostly used by a number of communities;

· predicting future trends and areas of economic potential of some of these products.

2.0 METHODOLOGY

The study used the existing literature on the subject. A number of pamphlets and reports were used to consolidate the information. Interviews with the people who are dealing with or involved in NWFP were also conducted. The information was gathered between 15 February and 30 March 1998. Interviews included both formal and informal discussions with people who the author considered important due to their involvement in similar or related work and the users of the products.