Read latest update from the Kalahari Garden Project 

Regional Programme for Southern Africa

Regional activities in southern Africa will be focused in the Kalahari ecoregion in Namibia and Botswana. This semi arid landscape is characterised by a remarkable diversity of migratory birds and large mammals and a wide variety of plant species that provide an important source of food and water for both humans and animals. Flora and fauna synonymous with the region include the camelthorn (Acacia erioloba), gemsbok (Oryx gazella), sociable weaver (Philetairus socius) and the Kalahari lion (Panthera leo).

A considerable amount of the Kalahari is protected (18%) and the xeric savanna is recognised by the WWF as one of the world’s 200 ecoregions prioritised for conservation. Where not protected, overgrazing is degrading the natural habitat and fencing obstructs migratory routes and threatens the biodiversity of the region.

The Kalahari is home to the San, Africa’s oldest human inhabitants, and other ethnic groups that include the Nama, Bakgalagadi, Herero and Tswana. In the past, these peoples’ understanding of the natural environment and associated skills enabled them to hunt and gather, engage in agropastoral activities and sustainably manage their natural resources.

Dispossession and displacement have resulted in former means of subsistence becoming increasingly unsustainable. Increased competition for natural resources has led to poor land management and these groups are some of the poorest and most marginalised in southern Africa today.

GDF is currently developing long term programmes with †San communities in Namibia and Botswana. The San, otherwise known as the Bushmen, Khwe or Basarwa, number 104,000 and comprise as many as 80 different linguistic groups. They are former nomadic foragers whose dependence on the Kalahari drylands ecosystem they inhabit has led to a rich understanding of the wildlife and plant species, which are traditionally used for food, shelter, clothing, medicines and ritual.

Landlessness and political marginalisation during the twentieth century, has significantly impacted their ability to forage and maintain a nomadic lifestyle. The expanded pace of development and socioeconomic changes in rural areas, together with the creation of protected areas and game reserves, have driven the San from the land they once inhabited and deprived them of access to an independent means of subsistence.

Hunting is prohibited in the majority of San occupied territories and the wild plants that have traditionally provided food and medicine are threatened by overgrazing and diminishing knowledge of their traditional use. Displaced and marginalised, the San today are an impoverished and highly dependent population with the lowest per capita income of all linguistic groups in southern Africa.

GDF’s regional programme for southern Africa is implementing an integrative approach to conservation and development that balances the need for increased livelihood opportunities, food security and education with the ecological considerations of the Kalahari eco-region.