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NAMIBIA is one of the countries facing the highest exposure to ecological threats, such as resource scarcity and natural disasters, while sub-Saharan Africa is the region most at risk of climate change stressors.
This was revealed in the recently released Ecological Threat Registry (ETR) produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). The inaugural edition of the report measures the ecological threats currently facing 157 countries, as well as projections through 2050.
According to the report, ETR groups threats into two main domains, namely resource scarcity, which includes food insecurity, water scarcity and high population growth; and natural disasters, which measures the threat of floods, droughts, cyclones, rising sea levels, and rising temperatures.
The ETR results show that 141 of the 157 countries surveyed are and will be exposed to at least one ecological threat by 2050.
There are 19 countries that have the highest number of threats and face four to six ecological threats. Namibia is among these countries.
“The three countries with the highest exposure to ecological shocks are Afghanistan, which faces six ecological threats, and Mozambique and Namibia, which face five each. Another 16 countries face four ecological threats,” the report details.
Of these 19 countries, 11 are African countries, namely Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, eSwatini, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, while the remaining eight are in Asia and the Middle East.
Among the threats facing Namibia are food insecurity, drought, water scarcity, resource depletion and rising temperatures. According to the report, 1.7 million people in the country are food insecure.
SUB-SAHARIAN AFRICA
Most of the sub-Saharan African countries, 33 out of 43, are exposed to medium to high ecological threats. The region is also at greater risk of suffering from the stressors of climate change.
“A combination of environmental, social and economic issues poses a major challenge to food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. The region is experiencing entrenched poverty, environmental degradation, rapid urbanization, high rates of population growth and climate change. Sub-Saharan Africa has lagged behind. highest prevalence of food insecurity globally with 58% of the population, “the report noted.
The report says that most sub-Saharan African countries depend on rainfed agriculture, making the region particularly vulnerable to changes in climatic conditions, such as prolonged droughts and seasonal floods.
“Agriculture not only contributes to food security in the region, it is also the mainstay of most African economies, with 20% to 30% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 55% of regional exports produced by agriculture, “the report said. .
Based on this, the report stated that the sector would be negatively affected by rising temperatures and increasing water shortages.
Currently, 18 of the 20 most food insecure countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the report. This means that more than 600 million people in the region face food insecurity, equivalent to 58% of the region’s population.
“This means that more than one in two people in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from some level of food insecurity, be it severe or moderate.”
The region also has one of the highest rates of malnutrition with 22.8% of the population, which is approximately 239 million people.
Furthermore, the perception of food insecurity has worsened over time in almost all regions, with Sub-Saharan Africa having the highest proportion of its population, around 64%, reporting that they feel they cannot afford adequate food.
Fortunately for the region, water scarcity by country is lower compared to other parts of the world, so it is possible that initiatives at the national level are sufficient to mitigate this ecological threat. The data provided in the report indicates that only 9% of the countries in the region will face high to extremely high water stress by 2040.
Yet even with that said, 19 of the 20 countries with the least access to basic drinking water are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The 20 countries with the highest death rate due to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and poor hygiene are all in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Namibia, fortunately, is not among them.
FUTURE
While Namibia has long been burdened by resource scarcity and natural disasters, the country is fortunate to have a high Positive Peace Index which, according to previous IEP studies, is an effective predictor of countries’ socio-economic resilience. and regions.
“This is because societies that operate with high levels of positive peace tend to be more effective in protecting lives and livelihoods from the impact of natural disasters, recover more quickly from economic crises, adjust more easily and quickly to technological, commercial and social upheavals, and promote the peaceful resolution of complaints and disputes between citizens and groups, “said the investigation.
Furthermore, where many of these ecological threats are exacerbated by rapidly growing populations, this is not a major concern for Namibia as the country’s projected average annual population growth from 2018 to 2050 is at the low end, with a projection of the 1.5%.
