{"id":268677,"date":"2019-06-07T11:31:07","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T09:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=268677"},"modified":"2019-06-07T11:31:07","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T09:31:07","slug":"drought-threatens-traditional-norms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=268677","title":{"rendered":"Drought threatens traditional norms"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Placido Hilukilwa
\nTHE negative effects of the drought that is currently devastating Namibia and many other Southern African countries are not limited to the scarcity of food for human consumption and poor grazing for the livestock.
\nThe severe drought is even raising fears that it would permanently change the traditional way of life of many traditional communities in the North.
\nIn conversation with Informant\u00e9, a number of community elders have described this year\u2019s drought as \u201cthe worst in recent memory\u201d and predicted that it would change their way of life and also turn a number of traditional norms upside down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photos: Placido Hilukilwa<\/caption>\n
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\u201cBy our very nature we are not beggars. We are self sustaining crop farmers and cattle breeders. That is our natural vocation,\u201d said Immanuel Hamalwa, Oshakati resident who is originally from Okongo in the Ohangwena Region.
\nHe noted that traditionally a man\u2019s \u201creal worth\u201d is measured against the number of head of cattle he owns and the volume of his yearly crop harvest. \u201cThe drought has denied us our yearly harvest and is now wiping out our animals thereby hitting at the very centre of gravity of our way of life, makings us destitute beggars,\u201d he said.
\nEngela village headman Djeimo Popyeinawa mentioned two traditional norms that might change as a direct result of the drought.
\nOne is about marriage: \u201cTraditionally a man who is planning to marry must have at least two head of cattle: one for lobola and the other for the wedding feast,\u201d he said.
\nThe other is about death: \u201cWhen there is death the bereaved family is expected to slaughter at least one ox for the consumption of those attending the funeral service,\u201d he said adding that the two traditional norms will have to change because bovine population will not survive the current drought and people will have to consume goat meat or pork at weddings and mourners will have to start eating fish during bereavement.
\nHe is urging churches and traditional authorities to start a \u2018counselling programme\u2019 targeting mostly the elderly who would be affected emotionally by the mass starvation of their livestock and the severe lack of food for their households.
\nPopyeinawa\u2019s sentiments were echoed by Kashona Malulu, the junior traditional councillor of the Onalusheshete district of Ondonga which borders the Kavango West Region and which is well known for its abundant rain and excellent grazing, but where the situation this year is not any better.
\n\u201cWe are in serious trouble this year. The grazing is poor and there is no water. Our animals will starve en mass,\u201d he said.
\nMalulu said that a number of cattle farmers who trekked all the way from the Kunene Region to the eastern areas of the Ohangwena and the Oshikoto regions now face a dilemma because the grazing is not as good as they expected and their animals are too weak to trek back to Kunene.
\nThat is the first time in history that Himba cattle breeders have trekked with their herds to the border between Kavango and the former Owamboland in search of grazing for their animals.<\/p>\n

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Placido Hilukilwa THE negative effects of the drought that is currently devastating Namibia and many other Southern African countries are not limited to the scarcity of food for human consumption and poor grazing for the livestock. The severe drought is even raising fears that it would permanently change the traditional way of life of many …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":268688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-268677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDrought threatens traditional norms - Informant\u00e9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE negative effects of the drought that is currently devastating Namibia and many other Southern African countries are not limited to the scarcity of food for human consumption and poor grazing for the livestock.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=268677\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Drought threatens traditional norms - 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