Erasmus Shalihaxwe
Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Pohamba Shifeta announced that starting 1 April 2025, the government will compensate farmers N$8 000 for cattle lost due to wildlife conflicts.
Shifeta made the announcement on Wednesday in the National Assembly while introducing the “Human Wildlife Conflict Self Reliance Scheme (HWC).”
The scheme aims to directly offset losses suffered by farmers due to wildlife damage to livestock and crops.
Shifeta explained that although the compensation was previously increased from N$ 3000 to N$ 5000, it will now rise to N$8 000.
This adjustment aims to promote fair benefit distribution and ensure those affected by wildlife losses can benefit from wildlife-related income.
“It is also there to meet the moral obligation of the Government to support a family who has lost a family member to certain species of wild animals under conditions where the affected person could not reasonably have been expected to defend himself or herself to avoid the incident, and where the family has to incur costs for a funeral and related costs. The scheme also pays for injuries to people caused by wild animals,” he said.
He added that the government adopted the HWC Self Reliance Scheme after finding that compensation schemes elsewhere were problematic and prone to abuse.
This prompted the need for alternative measures to address wildlife-related losses while fostering farmer self-reliance.
“We have the revised National Policy on Human Wildlife Conflict Management of 2018, that has been put in place to ensure that we manage human wildlife conflict in a way that recognizes the rights and development needs of local communities, recognizes the need to promote biodiversity conservation, promote self-reliance and ensures that decision making is quick, efficient and based on the best available information,” explained Shifeta.
