“Namibia is facing its most severe drought in a century”

On 22 May 2024, the Government declared a national state of emergency that has continued into 2025 . Below-average rainfall, high temperatures, and El Niño-driven climate variability have combined to cause widespread crop failure, livestock deaths, and water shortages.

Full report here:

CRISIS OVERVIEW

Namibia is facing its most severe drought in a century. On 22 May 2024, the Government declared a national state of emergency that has continued into 2025 . Below-average rainfall, high temperatures, and El Niño-driven climate variability have combined to cause widespread crop failure, livestock deaths, and water shortages. The drought has pushed the country into a prolonged humanitarian crisis that continues to erode food security, livelihoods, and nutrition nationwide.

By mid-2024, 84% of Namibia’s food reserves were already depleted, leaving nearly half of its 2.5 million people severely food-insecure. On 26 August 2024, the Government authorised the culling of 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants and 30 hippos, to relieve pressure on dwindling pasture and water sources. Meat from the cull was distributed through drought relief programmes for human consumption, highlighting how extreme coping mechanisms have become.

The crisis has persisted through the critical October–March planting and rainy seasons, with rainfall deficits in northern and central regions further undermining food production. Wheat and maize, two of Namibia’s major cereal crops, experienced significant production declines during the 2024–2025 season owing to severe drought. Wheat production dropped by 83.7% compared to the previous harvest season (2023–2024), primarily because of low water levels at Hardap Dam that disrupted irrigation.

Maize production also fell by 51.8%, with significant reductions by 52.6% and 29.9% in Karst and Central regions, respectively. Declines in staple cereal production have increased Namibia’s reliance on imports and led to rising food prices, highlighting how climate shocks have severely affected the food security and livelihoods of small-scale farmers and low-income households who depend on rain-fed agriculture.

By mid-2025, approximately 800,000 people, around 26% of the population, were anticipated to be food-insecure, with more than 750,000 classified to face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse levels. From October 2024 to March 2025, the people in nine of Namibia’s 14 regions, including more than 5,000 people per region in Hardap, Kavango East, Kavango West, Kharas, Khomas, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omaheke, and Zambezi, were projected to experience Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels.

The situation was especially severe in Kunene and Omaheke, where over 11,000 people were expected to remain in IPC 4 until June 2025. While no regions have yet reached 1 Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) levels, the trajectory indicates a sustained, widespread crisis.

The persistent drought in Namibia is compounding an already complex nutritional landscape, creating a “double burden of malnutrition” that affects different populations in distinct ways. In rural areas, the lack of alternatives given the drought’s impact on traditional food sources, such as livestock and crops, has prevented communities from accessing sufficient quantities of diverse, nutrient-rich foods, leading to widespread undernutrition, acute malnutrition, and chronic malnutrition.

Children under five remain the most at-risk group, underscoring how these disparate nutritional challenges are both tied to the country’s fragile food system.