The availability of water has largely determined the regional settlement pattern and thus most settlements are located near natural springs inland. There is very poor access to the coast from the rest of the Kunene Region and the entire coastal region is under the control of the Skeleton Coast Park.

The Himba or Ovahimba indigenous population are a marginalized nomadic group whose livelihood is dependent on sheep, goats, and some cattle, together with subsistence agriculture along the bank of the Kunene River

Back To Top

Planning Frameworks | Land Reform | Mining | Fishing and mari/agriculture | Conservation and Tourism

Back To Top

The regional development plan forms the basis for development within the region. The regional economic planner is based in Upuwo.

The Region has been divided into the following six constituencies: Ruacana, Sesfontein, Khorixas, Kamanjab, Outjo, and Opuwo where the regional headquarters are located. Only the municipality of Outjo is responsible for identifying and financing its own development projects; the others are all dependent on grants and administrative assistance from the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing. There is an attempt to devolve authority, responsibilities and resources to lower levels of government in order to make regional planning more effective. 

Back To Menu

The successive German and South Africa colonial regimes have deprived the indigenous livestock farmers of pastures in the southern parts of the region of commercial farming land. The establishment of the Skeleton Coastal Park in the west has made the marine resources and ecologically important ephemeral rivers inaccessible to local communities.
A total of six farms or 32 230 ha of land were purchased for resettlement purposes by the Ministry of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation within the Kunene region between 1990 and 2000. During drought there is a high rural urban migration as rural households struggle to produce enough from the land to survive.

Back To Menu

The Kunene Region is generally poor in mineralised rock formations. Some mining takes place on a small scale, but as yet no large-scale operations seem viable. Some small-scale extraction, value adding and marketing of crystals rocks for the local tourism market takes place. An exploration licence has been granted to an oil and gas exploration and development company to investigate the possibilities for commercial oil. In addition, there is the possibility of salt extraction as well as on- and off-shore diamond mining along the region's coastline. A large number of concessions and claims for small-scale mining are registered, but many remain unexplored. The sensitive nature of the environment and remoteness of the region need to be borne in mind.

Back To Menu

Agriculture

The Kunene Region has a high level of knowledge and skill in animal husbandry and grazing management. The relatively high numbers of livestock are of a high quality and very hardy, and are thus in demand. Marketing of cattle is constrained however due to a limited number of auctions, high transportation costs and average telecommunications infrastructure. The veterinary cordon fence which roughly cuts the region in half is an important factor influencing livestock production. Careful rangeland management is needed to avoid a potential conflict between wildlife and domestic stock and over-utilisation of the resource base. The potential exists for further production of milk, meat, leather and craft manufacture.

There is limited irrigated agriculture that occurs near springs and on riverbanks, where a variety of crops are cultivated in temporary and permanent gardens. Agricultural production makes only a small and, it is believed, declining contribution to average communal area household income.

Fishing

The adjacent marine fishing grounds are rich in marine resources, although they are not utilised by the people of the Kunene region. Rather, line fishing boats harvest angling fish, and fishing fleets from Walvis Bay catch stocks of commercial species such as hake, which are being fished to their maximum capacity. A feasibility study was recently completed for a proposed fishing port in Mowe Bay.

Back To Menu

The region has many tourist attractions. Tourism is a key development sector for the Kunene Region. Places such as former Kaokoland, Damaraland and Ruacana will become more accessible to tourists once the planned tarred road running from Ruacana to Kamanjab and the coast becomes a reality. With Outjo as one of the two entrance points to the National Etosha Game Reserve, tourism will become a major revenue source to this territory, which is otherwise somewhat under-endowed with natural resources.

There is already significant development of tourist facilities in several areas, although they all need to be upgraded in their services and supporting infrastructure. The Regional Council has identified 18 sites where local communities require assistance in establishing community campsites. The community conservancy cluster in the Kunene Region covers a large territory and is one of the most impressive in Namibia.

The major feature in the region is the Skeleton Coast Part, which stretches from the Ugab River in the South to the Kunene River in the north, which forms the border with Angola. It is about 40 km wide, constituting some 16 000 km2, and is divided into two zones: the northern and southern zones. The northern zone is a wilderness area. The entire park is situated in the Namib Desert. Namibia's famed desert dwelling elephants occur in some of the river beds in the Skeleton Coast Park, while giraffe, springbok, gemsbok are also found in the park.

The Kunene Region is bordered to the west by sea and to the north by the perennial Kunene River. The mouth of the Kunene is an important Ramsar Wetland. A proposal to dam the river at Epupa Falls is likely to have significant adverse ecological impacts on downstream fish stocks.

The Leatherback, one of the marine world's oldest creatures and the world's largest sea turtle swims in the mouth of the Kunene. The Kunene River Mouth could become an important asset for the development of the tourist sector.

It is important for the future sustainability of the region that potential tourist destinations such as Kaokoland, Damaraland and Ruacana are made accessible by making the planned construction of a tarred road running from Ruacana to Kamanjab and the coast a reality.

There exist tremendous potential for establishing a transfrontier protected area across the border of Namibia and Angola. This potential is as great as the emerging Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) across the Namibian and Richtersveld borders. On the Angolan side the border is flanked by the Parque do Iona. This park is contiguous to the Reserva de Namibe that lies further north.

For more information on the Kunene Region contact the Regional Economic Planner: Mr Timothy Katoma, Private Bag 502, Opuwo.

Back To Menu