Efundja as a risk driver and change agent for the Cuvelai-Etosha basin rural communities

Floods are one of the persistent major risk drivers impacting the Cuvelai-Etosha basin of northern Namibia. Locally known as Efundja, this disruptive event negatively impacts particularly the rural population, who have limited resources to combat its effects. Being mostly subsistence farmers in isolated communities, the floods wreak havoc with their homesteads, harvests, animals, and general way of life by cutting them off from their fields, neighbours, and essential services for prolonged periods. This study investigates the impacts and coping mechanisms of rural communities regularly affected by Efundja. Data was collected from four groups of respondents through interviews and focus groups. These were heads of households in the affected rural communities, the community leaders, local councillors and national government officials involved in disaster mitigation. This ensured a comprehensive picture of the impacts.

Despite the presence of a national disaster risk management strategy, the national disaster response mechanism rather reactively responds to the hazard as opposed to being proactive. Results indicates that the strategy is not fully implemented and the parts that are implemented functions as a top-down approach. Respondents reported a wide range of impacts and a general inability to effectively cope with Efundja, coupled with an absence of their voices in deliberations about risk reduction matters. Additions to the current disaster risk management strategy is proposed and several recommendations derived from the research results concludes the article. Should these recommendations be implemented into the Namibian disaster risk management strategy, Efundja as risk driver will also become an agent of change.