A lecturer at the University of Namibia's (UNAM) Environmental Science Department says despite legislation on improving the benefits for Namibian producers from natural resources, the actual sharing of the benefits remains unsatisfactory.
Ndapewa Nakanyete said this during her research presentation on Rich Resources from Poor Communities: An Analysis of Namibia's Access and Benefit-Sharing Legislation at the first Spain-Namibia Climate Forum held in Windhoek on Monday.
In her research, Nakanyete gave a case study of the Devil's Claws benefit-sharing agreement affecting San communities.
She revealed that although Namibia is one of the largest suppliers of devil's claw in the world, with an export value of N$41 million, only a few communities benefit from the revenues and benefits derived from this product.
The community members employed in the industry, as co-administrators of sustainable harvesting, earn less than three N$3,500 per month, while the harvesters and those who add value to the devil's claw by cleaning, cutting, drying, and packing the materials for exporters earn an average of just N$1,500 to N$2,000.
"The highest-paid harvester of devil's claws by 2021 earned about N$2,200 average per year, with only one German company contributing to benefit-sharing by paying bonuses to some of the involved communities. The exporters primarily consist of five white Namibians and one white South African. Namibia's export value is N$41 million, which is actually sufficient for the five exporters."
She says that from the harvesting of devil's claw, the harvesters only benefit 4%, the local exporters benefit 17%, and the importers and retailers in Europe benefit 79% of the value of the raw material.
Nakanyete also revealed that, so far, only one Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) agreement has been signed since 2022.
"To conclude, despite the two decades of engagements with bio-trade and ABS initiatives and legislation, Namibia has seen limited impacts on benefit sharing for indigenous and local sharing communities. The ABS value chain or framework presents a strategy to address the gaps that exist in equitable sharing. We need to learn from SA, where a benefit-sharing agreement was signed in 2019 that provided R12 million to the San community in 2022, along with other non-monetary benefits like employment creation and education support."
It's for reasons such as these that the Spain-Namibia Climate Forum brought experts from diverse fields to exchange ideas and lessons learned in the areas of resource value chains, agroforestry, water management, and conservation, among others.
"Science knows no boundaries because there is no other way to tackle challenges such as climate change that transcend national boundaries. These forums are a testimony to the potential of science and diplomacy working together across borders to find solutions to global challenges," said Alberto De La Calle, the Ambassador of Spain to Namibia.
The forum was held under the theme "Targeting Resilience: Leveraging Spain and Namibia's Climate Solutions."