Community grazing management (Namibia)

Agreement among community members to jointly manage their communal grazing area by combining their livestock into a single herd. The herd is managed and moved according to an agreed growing season plan that provides sufficient recovery for perennial grasses, and a non-growing season plan to graze in a way that prepares soil and plants for the next season. Regenerating rangeland productivity and well-being is the goal.

The approach is a partnership between an NGO, Ministry of Land Reform (MLR), Ministry of Agriculture , Water and Forestry (MAWF), the National Farmers Union (NNFU), traditional authorities, and regional and local government. The NGO raises awareness among the community about the damage caused to the rangeland by individual herds of livestock grazing continuously – and to appreciate the benefits of planned grazing. Livestock owners invite facilitators to compare the current state of their land with that of the past. The reasons for the decline are investigated. Once livestock owners understand that perennial grasses need recovery, they soon conclude that their management caused the loss of perennial grass and the increase in bare ground. At this point, the aim of the approach can be pursued. This is to regenerate rangeland productivity in the communal grazing area and thereby support higher livestock production. This in turn supports livelihoods.
If motivation to apply planned grazing exists among the community members, then their right to claim common property ownership needs to be established. In pioneering communities this requires at least 10 village level livestock owner meetings to decide on modalities of planned grazing. These meetings continue after planned grazing has started to deal with ongoing planning, animal production and marketing. Exposure visits to areas with successful grazing management help. On return frequent follow-up meetings, facilitated by the NGO and the MAWF, can resolve local issues, including traditional taboos, such as combining animals in one kraal, and whose bulls should be kept and managed.
Boundaries with neighbouring communities need to be mapped, recognised and respected by all. In case of grass poaching, the offenders must to be swiftly dealt with, preferably through customary law. A grazing plan needs to be agreed by all livestock owners, and endorsed by the local Traditional Authority. The grazing area (GA) is then mapped, while six herders, one of whom is their manager, are appointed from among the community though common agreement. Each livestock owner pays a portion of the herding and management cost pro-rata based on the number of his livestock. At night the cattle are separated and kraaled near the homesteads of their owners. In the morning, the herders collect cattle from the kraals. Different portions of the grazing area are grazed daily and only returned to when the grass has replenished its root reserves - some months later.
The process started at Erora in 2004, facilitated by the NGO, Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC). Implementation began in 2006, combining approximately 1200 cattle from 12 households. Livestock owners noticed a higher density of annual grasses after the first season; dramatic improvement in soil cover after three years with emergence of grass seedlings where none had grown for decades. Then after another three years, perennial grasses returned with increased biodiversity in many parts. However, when the extended drought started in 2011, planned grazing was interrupted and gullies expanded, down which rainwater flowed, dehydrating the rangelands. The drought lasted for five years, and the planned grazing was temporarily discontinued in 2013. During this period, rehabilitation work included constructing bush filters along key gullies: facilitation was taken over by another NGO, Conservation Agriculture Namibia (CAN). After successive years of severe drought, cattle became too weak to be rounded up, and in 2014 the community members decided to revert to keeping cattle near their homesteads. This was intended to be temporary but cattle only gained sufficient strength in 2017. The communal grazing management approach was extended to other villages in 2012, despite the drought. New boreholes were drilled and installed to facilitate improved planned grazing.