Staff from the Namibian Red Cross, USAID/Namibia, and USAID/OFDA conducted an assessment of drought conditions following severely decreased rainfall in 2012 and 2013.

Adam Weimer

Key Developments

Efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) across the Southern Africa region—including in Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—have slowed economic activity and negatively affected livelihoods, restricting access to food and other essential goods and services, according to relief actors.

USAID is also responding to disasters in neighboring Southern Africa countries.

Background

Namibia is susceptible to many of the same natural disasters that affect much of southern Africa, namely, cyclical drought, epidemics, floods, and food insecurity. USAID’s response strategy in Namibia focuses on addressing humanitarian needs while investing in disaster risk reduction programs that strengthen the ability of communities to prepare for and mitigate the effects of disasters.