The Environment, Forestry, and Tourism Minister has called on Namibians to safeguard the environment and avoid deforestation.
Pohamba Shifeta made these remarks during the commemoration of World Day to combat Desertification and Drought at Eenhana under the theme "United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future".
The United Nations General Assembly had 29 years ago declared June 17 as World Day to combat desertification and drought.
The Environment, Forestry, and Tourism Minister said desertification is posing environmental challenges resulting in persistent degradation of dryland, drought, and unproductive farming.
"Desertification and drought also drive forced migration, putting tens of millions of people each year at risk of displacement. Desertification, land degradation, and drought disproportionately impact women, as they often do not have access to and control land resources. They are mostly affected by reduced agricultural yields and increased water scarcity."
Shifeta said that, despite the challenges, Namibia has demonstrated commitments to address desertification and land degradation through the Sustainable Land Management Steering Committee.
He further said that Namibia was among the 18 countries selected for participation in the second phase of the Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Programme.
The programme aims to develop and implement strategies to achieve land degradation neutrality, ensuring the long-term sustainability of land resources.
"Namibia has agreed to be part of the SADC Great Green Wall and African Forest Landscape Restoration (AFR100), initiatives that thrive to restore degraded lands in Africa, particularly in our region."
This year, the ministry donated 30,000 tree seedlings across the country to encourage communities to paint Namibia green.
Ohangwena Governor Sebastian Ndeitunga urged communities to refrain from cutting down trees and move away from unsustainable land use.
Ohangwena is one of the regions affected by the drought, with many families struggling to put food on the table.
"The region has suffered dry spells in the past, and this year is a drought year. The region received very little rainfall, and as a result, the harvest was very poor. In January 2024, it was reported that more than 40,000 families had so far been identified as needing food assistance, but only around 16,000 could have been reached by that time."
He urged the regional leadership to closely monitor the drought situation to ensure that nobody dies of hunger.