Caprivi Strip Research Articles

White-fronted Bee-eater Merops bullockoides increasing its presence along the Orange River in southern Namibia

The White-fronted Bee-eater Merops bullockoides is common in northeastern Namibia, in the Caprivi Strip. This paper reports the first records for southern Namibia, along the Orange River. The first record was made in 2010, in southeastern Namibia. By 2023, they were observed in small groups on seven out of 12 days on a canoe trip downstream of the 2010 sighting, as far west as Senderlingsdrift.

NAMIBIA: FORGOTTEN CONFLICT IN THE CAPRIVI STRIP

The article focuses on the Caprivi conflict that took place in Namibia in 1999. This conflict was a short and low-intensity conflict. Besides, it meets the criteria to be described as a forgotten conflict. This study aims to explain and describe this conflict, to clarify the reasons why the conflict can be described as a forgotten conflict. A public opinion poll was conducted to confirm the hypothesis that this is a forgotten conflict. The results of this public opinion poll together with further media analysis confirm this hypothesis. The second part of the work focuses on the reasons why the conflict was forgotten. Several theories are applied to the case to provide a comprehensive explanation. In practice, it turns out that there are several reasons. Keywords: Caprivi Strip, conflict, forgotten, Namibia, public opinion, violence.

A Synthesis and Review of Ethnomedicinal Uses, Phytochemistry and Biological Activities of Paropsia brazzeana Baill. (Passifloraceae)

Paropsia brazzeana is a shrub used traditionally to treat various human diseases and ailments. Paropsia brazzeana naturally occurs from Cameroon and the Central African Republic south to Angola, the Caprivi strip of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The aim of this review was to provide an overview and critically analyze the ethnomedical uses, phytochemistry and biological activities of P. brazzeana. The results of the current study are based on literature survey conducted using various search engines such as Elsevier, Pubmed, Google scholar, Springer, Science Direct, Taylor and Francis, and pre-electronic sources such as books, book chapters, scientific journals and other grey literature. The fruit, leaf, leaf sap, root, root bark and stem bark decoction or infusion of P. brazzeana are mainly used as charm and rituals, and traditional medicine for gastro-intestinal infections, gonorrhoea, malaria and toothache. Chemical constituents identified from P. brazzeana include alkaloids, hydrocyanic acid, polyphenol, proanthocyanidins, reducing sugars, saponins, steroids, tannins and terpenes. The species possesses biological activities such as antiamoebic, antibacterial and antispasmodic activities. Paropsia brazzeana is a valuable medicinal plant species and future research should focus on animal experiments aimed at assessing toxicity and clinical efficacy of species extracts.

Locating the channel and other tales from the river bank: constants and change in river boundary delimitation

ABSTRACT Nowhere is the contrast between the top-down process of drawing a boundary and the ground-up reality of living with it so obvious as in delimitations along rivers – live features not just physically but also, potentially, navigable arteries. Illustrations are drawn from the chequered history of two famous colonial river boundaries along the Shatt al-Arab and Jordan rivers; and in the invocation of history in legal settlements of the status of Kasikili/Sedudu Island in the Caprivi Strip (1995–99) and the Abyei region on the Bahr al Arab between Sudan and South Sudan (2008–09).

Exile and Repatriation: Experiences from the Zambezi Region, Namibia

ABSTRACTThe Namibian Zambezi region, formerly Eastern Caprivi, has an exceptional borderland geohistory. It resulted from the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty between Great Britain and Germany in 1890, to give Germany a corridor to the Zambezi River linking German East and South-West Africa. The Caprivi Strip as it was called proved useless, but has remained part of the geopolitical setting of Southern Africa to date. During the struggle for independence from the 1960s to 1989 the area soon became a strategic asset of the South African Defense Force and was heavily militarized. Due to increasing repression, many young adults, men and women, left the area to join SWAPO in Zambia. They crossed the border to Zambia and Botswana and were transported between camps to receive basic military training. Many were sent abroad to get additional training both military and civilian. Most also served in Angola, on the so-called northern front. The interviews of ten former exiles are the empirical data for this paper, most of them served in the armed struggle, but some served as nurses, teachers and as SWAPO envoys. The key concepts here are the experiences of the border people reflecting the decision to leave, the camp life, comradeship, and the common cause. After repatriation most suffered from a sense of being an outsider, and it took time to reconcile the leavers and remainers. The education and training in the Soviet Union, Finland, North Korea and elsewhere, were certainly beneficial for both the rebuilding of the new Namibia, but also for their personal life.

Genetic connectivity across marginal habitats: the elephants of the Namib Desert.

Locally isolated populations in marginal habitats may be genetically distinctive and of heightened conservation concern. Elephants inhabiting the Namib Desert have been reported to show distinctive behavioral and phenotypic adaptations in that severely arid environment. The genetic distinctiveness of Namibian desert elephants relative to other African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) populations has not been established. To investigate the genetic structure of elephants in Namibia, we determined the mitochondrial (mt) DNA control region sequences and genotyped 17 microsatellite loci in desert elephants (n = 8) from the Hoanib River catchment and the Hoarusib River catchment. We compared these to the genotypes of elephants (n = 77) from other localities in Namibia. The mtDNA haplotype sequences and frequencies among desert elephants were similar to those of elephants in Etosha National Park, the Huab River catchment, the Ugab River catchment, and central Kunene, although the geographically distant Caprivi Strip had different mtDNA haplotypes. Likewise, analysis of the microsatellite genotypes of desert‐dwelling elephants revealed that they were not genetically distinctive from Etosha elephants, and there was no evidence for isolation by distance across the Etosha region. These results, and a review of the historical record, suggest that a high learning capacity and long‐distance migrations allowed Namibian elephants to regularly shift their ranges to survive in the face of high variability in climate and in hunting pressure.

Nature, War and Development: South Africa's Caprivi Strip, 1960–1980

This article explores the close entanglements between militarisation and ecological research in the Caprivi Strip between 1960 and 1980. Prior to the 1960s, the Caprivi Strip in the north-east of Namibia was repeatedly presented by the South African administration as a ‘useless’ and remote area of no value to its colonisers. This changed during the 1960s, when it became clear that the region was of crucial military significance in relation to the Cold War, as well as to Namibia's national independence movements. In this article, I argue that the militarisation of the Caprivi was closely entangled with ecological surveys and mapping carried out by the South African civil administration in co-operation with its army and air force. First, I will show how such activities have to be seen in a longer tradition of ‘masking’ South Africa's presence in Namibia, and its enforcement of apartheid as ‘development’. Secondly, I will elaborate intricate layers of interdependences of warfare and ecological research, particularly on the level of personal networks of military personnel and civil servants in Katima Mulilo, by sharing infrastructure, such as military planes, used for aerial photography and mapping of natural features in the region. As the joint fight for the control of an alien water weed shows, the co-operation of the military and ecologists worked not only on a practical level: there were also shared interests in ‘knowing space’ in order to ‘keep’ it clean of ‘invading enemies’. Finally, the data and maps produced in these joint surveillance projects laid the basis for a spatial definition of what I call a ‘South African nature space’ in the region.

The role of elephantLoxodonta africanapathways as a spatial variable in crop-raiding location

AbstractShort-range elephantLoxodonta africanamovements were examined in a heterogeneous landscape mosaic of settlements, crop fields and remnant forest in the Caprivi Strip, Namibia. We explored the penetration of the landscape through the use of permanent pathways and determined the impact of pathway use on crop-raiding location. Pathways were linear, devoid of vegetation and maintained by repeated movement. Functional connectivity of pathways was not species-specific, and pathways were used by various species. Elephants travelled in single file at night and we recorded selective pathway use: females selected pathways away from settlements to access water, whereas males used pathways among settlements to launch crop raids. Proximity of raided fields to the nearest pathway was the only significant spatial variable explaining crop-raiding location. Bulls were responsible for all crop-raiding incidents. We conclude that (1) pathways were the most significant spatial variable influencing which fields were raided, (2) crop-raiding from pathways may maximize foraging efficiency by reducing time spent and distance travelled while foraging, (3) pathways may facilitate penetration of the matrix by connecting predictable resources (crops) with preferred shelter areas, crossing points at roads and preferred drinking spots, and (4) access to the Kwandu River is restricted by settlements, predictably resulting in human–elephant conflict. By highlighting the relevance of pathways for movement of elephants we show that an understanding of the use of pathways is important for land-use planning in conservation landscapes, specifically with regard to human–elephant conflict. We also argue for the need to more fully explore pathway occurrence and use at larger spatial scales.

Local Perception of Risk to Livelihoods in the Semi-Arid Landscape of Southern Africa

The United Nations and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change deem many regions of southern Africa as vulnerable landscapes due to changing climatic regimes, ecological conditions, and low adaptive capacity. Typically in highly vulnerable regions, multiple livelihood strategies are employed to enable sustainable development. In Botswana, livelihood strategies have diversified over time to include tourism and other non-agricultural activities. While such diversification and development have been studied, little is known about how locals perceive livelihood risks. This article analyzes perceptions of risk through a risk hazards framework. During the summer of 2010, 330 surveys were completed within seven villages in northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip of Namibia. During the survey respondents were asked to list the biggest threats/challenges to their livelihoods. Responses were grouped into categories of risk according to the capital assets on which livelihoods depend: natural, physical, financial, human, and social. A risk mapping procedure was utilized, for which indices of severity, incidence, and risk were calculated. It is hypothesized that people’s perception of risk is directly dependent on environmental conditions and employment status of the household. Results indicate that problems related to natural and financial assets are the greatest source of risk to livelihoods. Furthermore, flood, drought, and other measures of climate variability are perceived as influential, typically negatively, to livelihood strategies.

Genetic perspectives on “Lion Conservation Units” in Eastern and Southern Africa

Current understanding of genetic variation in lions (Panthera leo) is inadequate to guide many management decisions necessary for conservation of the species. We studied sequence variation in the mitochondrial cytochrome-b (cyt-b) gene of 75 lions and nuclear variation at 11 microsatellite loci of 480 lions across 8 range states (Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia) and 13 Lion Conservation Units (LCUs) plus two other unassigned sites (Cameroon and Zimbabwe). A total of 11 cyt-b haplotypes were found, whose variation follows an isolation-by-distance model. In combination with previously known sequences, the haplotypes document the close relationship, derived position, and limited variability of Asian and West and Central African lions relative to other extant lions. Both phylogenetic analyses and substitution networks identify two clades in Eastern and Southern Africa—one restricted to Namibia and South Africa and the other more widespread across the region. However, these analyses are equivocal on which of these is closest to the ancestor of modern lions. Microsatellite analyses showed high levels of variation within and among populations, subdivision among most LCUs, and evidence of isolation by distance. While rates of gene flow are generally low, admixture among lions in northern Botswana, Caprivi Strip (Namibia) and Zambia is apparent from STRUCTURE analyses. Conservation management plans should incorporate information on genetic variability and gene flow in delimiting management units and in guiding translocations of lions to minimize inbreeding and to control problem animals.

Contrasting Historical and Recent Gene Flow among African Buffalo Herds in the Caprivi Strip of Namibia

Population genetic structure is often used to infer population connectivity, but genetic structure may largely reflect historical rather than recent processes. We contrasted genetic structure with recent gene-flow estimates among 6 herds of African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in the Caprivi Strip, Namibia, using 134 individuals genotyped at 10 microsatellite loci. We tested whether historical and recent gene flows were influenced by distance, potential barriers (rivers), or landscape resistance (distance from water). We also tested at what scales individuals were more related than expected by chance. Genetic structure across the Caprivi Strip was weak, indicating that historically, gene flow was strong and was not affected by distance, barriers, or landscape resistance. Our analysis of simulated data suggested that genetic structure would be unlikely to reflect human disturbances in the last 10-20 generations (75-150 years) because of slow predicted rates of genetic drift, but recent gene-flow estimates would be affected. Recent gene-flow estimates were not consistently affected by rivers or distance to water but showed that isolation by distance appears to be developing. Average relatedness estimates among individuals exceeded random expectations only within herds. We conclude that historically, African buffalo moved freely throughout the Caprivi Strip, whereas recent gene flow has been more restricted. Our findings support efforts to maintain the connectivity of buffalo herds across this region and demonstrate the utility of contrasting genetic inferences from different time scales.

Foraging guild membership explains variation in waterbird responses to the hydrological regime of an arid‐region flood‐pulse river in Namibia

Summary1. Little is known about hydrological influences on tropical waterbird communities. We used a 16‐year data set (1991–2007) of waterbird censuses, together with a classification of observed species into foraging guilds, to explore the relationships between natural variations in flow regime, foraging guild and the community composition of waterbirds at the Okavango River in the Caprivi Strip of north‐eastern Namibia, southern Africa.2. We addressed three hypotheses to explain variation in waterbird community composition: (i) exploitation (birds move towards resource‐rich patches to exploit periods of high food abundance); (ii) escapism (declines in regional habitat quality force birds to aggregate in perennial waterbodies); and (iii) interaction (bird assemblages are dominated by intra‐ and interspecific interactions, such as flock formation for breeding or moulting, that can be explained better by life history demands or competition than by resource availability).3. Waterbirds in different foraging guilds responded strongly but at different periods to changes in the hydrological environment, creating a complex but predictable successional pattern in community composition through time. Deep‐water feeders responded fastest (abundance peaking 2 months post‐flood), followed by shallow‐water feeders (4 months) and emergent vegetation feeders (7 months). Species that forage on short vegetation or in mud showed a bimodal response with peaks in abundance at 3 and 8 months post‐flood.4. Our results indicated a strong effect of the local flow regime and hence supported the exploitation hypothesis. The foraging guild approach allowed us to identify clear patterns in a highly complex ecosystem and shows considerable promise as an analytical tool for similar data sets. Our results further suggest that while the entire bird community will be affected by hydrological alterations such as impoundments, water extraction and climate change, deep‐water feeders may be one of the most vulnerable groups.

The Botswana-Namibian Boundary Dispute in the Caprivi:To what extent does Botswana's Arms Procurement Program represent a drift towards Military Confrontation in the Region?

The Botswana and Namibian governments are currently involved in a dispute with each other over ownership of the small islands of Kasikili-Sedudu, (Kasikili is the Namibian name for the island) and Situngu in the Caprivi Strip. Like Sedudu, the Namibians also variedly refer to Situngu as Luyondo, Singobeka, Mbala and Zoti. The dispute over Sedudu Island currently serves before the World Court in The Hague, while the dispute over Situngu has been referred to a joint technical committee that has been set up by the two governments. The fear has been expressed that, given the strong national sentiments and heightened emotions surrounding the dispute, the losing side may not accept the World Court's decision on Sedudu Island, which is expected before the end of 1999. Oral submissions started on 15 February and the court is currently preparing its findings on the matter. Should either of the two applicants refuse to accept the Court's findings Southern Africa could very well be faced with a protracted border war in the region. The dispute over the two islands have been going on since 1991 and both Botswana and Namibia's current arms procurement programs have been indirectly linked by some observers to the dispute over the two river islands in the Caprivi Strip. Botswana is reportedly also not happy with Namibia's plans to pump large quantities of water on a permanent basis from the Okavango River while Namibia, in tum, has stopped short of accusing Botswana of aiding the Caprivi nationalist movement of Mishake Muyongo in his search for independence for the Caprivi from Namibia. Muyongo, like the majority of the 100 000 strong Mafwe people in the Caprivi, are Lozi-speaking and shares a cornmon kinship with the Lozi tribes across the border in Zambia.3 The secessionist leadership chose Botswana for political asylum in October 1998 when it became known that the Namibian government was about to arrest them. By December 1998 more than 2 200 Caprivian secessionists, including some 700 from the Linyanti area alone, had fled from the Caprivi into Botswana to escape possible persecution from the Namibian government.

Survey of Ixodid Ticks and Two Tick-Borne Pathogens in African Buffaloes,Syncerus caffer, from the Caprivi Strip, Namibia

A capture operation to ascertain health status in free-ranging buffaloes from six different areas in the Caprivi Strip in the northeast corner of Namibia was conducted in October 2009. Basic information on the ticks and tick-borne pathogens normally found in wildlife from this area are scarce. The objective of this study was to assess the host status of African buffaloes, Syncerus caffer, for ixodid ticks and two selected tick-borne pathogens in the Caprivi Strip, a key area bordering Angola, Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. Four different tick species have been identified among the 233 collected specimens, and, of 95 tested buffaloes, 54 (57%) were positive for Theileria parva, whereas only 3 (3%) showed evidence of being infected with Ehrlichia ruminantium.

Christa Kilian-Hatz: Khwe Dictionary

Before an assessment of this dictionary is made, it is important to place the Khwe language in its historical and social context. Khwe dam (language of the Khwe), as its speakers would prefer to call it, is a Khoisan language belonging to the Southern African Central-Khoisan under the Khoe cluster (Güldemann and Vossen 2000). It is spoken in Northern Botswana and in the Western Capri-vi Strip of Namibia in the Kavango region. As the compiler correctly observes, there are about 10 000 Khwe-speaking people who live in the Caprivi Strip of North-Western Namibia, Angola, Botswana and Zambia, and at Schmidtsdrift, South Africa. As can be expected from a speech community such as the Khwe, who prefer living in small communities, there are dialects within the Khwe dam. In Botswana, the notable varieties are the Buga (Sand Khwe) and the ≤Ani (River Khwe), which exhibit discernable linguistic differences at the lexical and grammatical levels. However, linguists agree, as Kilian-Hatz also indicates, that the Khwe dam dialectal varieties are definitely related and mutually fairly intelligible (cf. Güldemann and Vossen 2000). As a language that has not been elaborately codified, it is difficult to speak about a standard Khwe dam form. Many other social and linguistic activities need to be carried out to resolve the question of standard Khwe dam (cf. WIMSA 2001).

Elephants of south‐east Angola in war and peace: their decline, re‐colonization and recent status

AbstractAngola’s intermittent 27‐year civil war displaced over four million people and decimated wildlife populations. During the 1980s, African elephants (Loxodonta africana Blumenbach) in Angola drew international alarm with reports of 100,000 elephants killed. Luiana Partial Reserve (PR), a conservation area in south‐east Angola, was the military operations centre for UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), which used elephant ivory to pay for arms and meat. However, the full impact of the civil war on elephants is uncertain because there are no reliable estimates of Angolan elephant populations. Following the end of the civil war in 2002, our three aerial surveys of Luiana PR indicated that elephant numbers are increasing rapidly, from 366 in January 2004 to 1827 in November 2005, and expanding their range in the Reserve. Concurrently, elephants tagged with satellite collars in northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip, Namibia, moved into Luiana PR. To facilitate re‐colonization and conservation of elephants and other wildlife in Luiana PR, we recommend: (i) realignment of the veterinary fence on the Botswana–Namibia border; (ii) development of effective land use management and anti‐poaching programmes; (iii) clearing of landmines; (iv) designation of the Reserve a national park; and (v) development of ecotourism and community conservation programmes.

A new species of Slender Stonebasher within the Hippopotamyrus ansorgii complex from the Cunene River in southern Africa (Teleostei: Mormyriformes)

Previous work has revealed that Hippopotamyrus ansorgii (Boulenger, 1905) is a species complex, with specimens from the Upper Zambezi system (Caprivi Strip in Namibia) that are well differentiated from the Angolan type specimens. Here, we sampled the Cunene River, one of several possible type rivers for H. ansorgii, on the border between Namibia and Angola. The specimens are morphologically differentiated from the six other known morphs within the H. ansorgii species complex, including the types and H. szaboi. The electric organ discharge of the Cunene specimens has a different pulse waveform and associated amplitude spectra to that of the three Upper Zambezi system morphs of the species complex. The Cunene specimens are genetically distinct, but relatively closely related to other taxa of the H. ansorgii complex, such as the Upper Zambezi system morphs. We recognize the Lower Cunene morph as the new species, Hippopotamyrus longilateralis sp. nov.

One Namibia, one nation? The Caprivi as contested territory

The second of August 2009 marked the tenth anniversary of the failed secessionist attempt by the Caprivi Liberation Movement (CLM). It resulted in Namibia's sole state of emergency since independence. Ten years on, the high treason trial for what began as more than 130 accused drags on. Namibia thus has the longest serving political prisoners within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) without their having been convicted. This article draws attention to a widely neglected failure in Namibia's nation-building effort and thereby highlights a special challenge left by the colonial legacy to the independent government. It presents a summary of events leading to the secessionist attempt and a historical overview of issues around the so-called Caprivi Strip and explores the shortcomings in an unresolved relationship between the central state and the local perspectives and identities of people living at the margins. By doing so, it uses the case study of the Caprivi region as an example for the challenges of bringing about ‘One Namibia, One Nation’.

Elephants caught in the middle: impacts of war, fences and people on elephant distribution and abundance in the Caprivi Strip, Namibia

AbstractWe conducted wet [26 March–4 April 2003 (Apr03)] and dry [1–8 November 2005 (Nov05)] season aerial surveys of African elephants (Loxodonta africanaBlumenbach) in the Caprivi Strip, Namibia to provide an updated status report on elephant numbers and distribution and assist with a historical analysis of elephant distribution and abundance in the Caprivi Strip. During the wet season when water was available in seasonal pans, elephants were widely distributed throughout the survey area. In contrast, during the dry season, a majority of elephant herds occurred within 30 km of the perennial Kwando, Linyanti and Okavango rivers and few herds occurred within the West Caprivi Game Reserve where water in the seasonal pans was limited. We estimated 5318 elephants for the 7731‐km2survey area (0.71 elephants km−2) for the Apr03 wet season survey and 6474 elephants for the 8597‐km2survey area (0.75 elephants km−2) for the Nov05 dry season survey. Based on our aerial surveys and reports of elephant numbers and distribution from historical aerial surveys and telemetry studies, civil war, veterinary fences and human activities appear to have effected changes in African elephant abundance, distribution and movements in the Caprivi Strip, Namibia since 1988 when the first comprehensive aerial surveys were conducted.

New approach in border studies: The need for re‐thinking the European‐African borderland through the case of the EUSADC relationship and the caprivi strip

This paper proposes re‐thinking the relationship between EU(rope) and Africa as an expression of the complex dynamics produced through the construction of what we define as the European‐African borderland. We focus attention on the plural character of such a borderland, by assuming it not only as geographic territorial but also political, symbolic, cultural‐anthropological, and epistemological. By taking this view, the paper attempts to contemplate the potential for a new epistemological perspective, speaking from the space of interaction along and across the shifting European‐African borderland, assumed as a complex relational space. Far from being—as it is commonly represented—a territorial line separating two differences, the borderland becomes a “plurivocal” construction and its complexity can only be grasped through a new “pluriversal” looking glass. This last observation points to the urgency to re‐think the borderland as a space of interaction where the European‐African relationship is articulated at a plurality of ‘levels’ (political, economical, cultural, etc). More precisely, our analysis deals with two issues that emerge as crucial in a number of narratives through which a Europe‐Africa space of relation is defined: security and regionalization policies. The geopolitical centrality of these issues derives from their relations, as highlighted by a critical analysis of the so‐called ‘EU‐Africa Dialogue,’ launched through the Cairo‐process in 2000. However, although security and regionalization are proposed in institutional narratives as cross‐border strategies to construct a Europe‐Africa dialogue, what seems to be missing from these initiatives is a clear selfcriticism of the EU's normative logic and model. We seek to develop this point by analyzing the EU‐SADC (Southern African Development Community) relational geographies through reference to a territory of the Southern African region—the Caprivi Strip—a part of Namibia, but at the centre of old and new regional projects.