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Nawa 34 |
Apr 28 2005 |
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DAMARALAND CAMP WINS TOP CONSERVATION AWARD
 The Damaraland Camp, a safari lodge located within the Torra Conservancy in remote northwest Namibia, was recently awarded the Tourism for Tomorrow Conservation Award 2005 at a ceremony at the Global Tourism Summit in New Delhi. The award is adjudicated by a panel of independent judges after on-site evaluation visits carried out by sustainable tourism experts from around the world. The Tourism for Tomorrow Awards recognize and promote the world`s leading examples of best practice in responsible tourism and was set up to encourage the travel industry to protect the environment.
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Ten years ago, the area around Damaraland Camp was in decline; there was no formal conservation protection, wildlife was in decline and unemployment within the local community was close to 100%. Today, with the implementation of a viable eco-tourism model supported by USAID/Namibia, around 180,000 hectares of land are under conservancy protection, wildlife is thriving and the local community has money in the bank and employment. Encouraged by this example, the neighbouring Doro Nawas Community has created its own 180,000-hectare conservancy.
Damaraland Camp lies 90 kilometres inland from Namibia`s Skeleton Coast. In the 1980s the Kunene Region experienced heavy poaching and drought. The once abundant wildlife populations were almost wiped out. USAID`s Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) I activity, working with Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation, a local NGO, helped turn around this situation by directly involving the local community in conservation.
In 1996 Torra Conservancy entered into a joint venture with Wilderness Safaris by leasing a lodge site to the company to establish and run the up-market Damaraland Camp. Wilderness pays a percentage of its income to the conservancy and recruits lodge staff from the local community, helping to reduce unemployment in the area. Due to the progressive training policy negotiated in the contract, a local woman that was once a goat herder has risen to become manager of the luxury lodge, while other community members have been able to market their skills in other tourism areas. One of the poorest communities is now thriving and poverty has been alleviated directly through conservation and tourism. The result is a sense of pride and belonging in the community who now see their environment as being integrally linked to their future successes. |
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RADIO COMPETITION GIVES YOUTH A VOICE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST AIDS
 Rush, a rapper from Rehoboth, took home the N$9000 ($1500) 1st prize for a song he composed and submitted to an innovative music competition designed to generate music that speaks to Namibia`s youth about HIV/AIDS. The competition was organized by the Social Marketing Association and a hot local radio station, Radio Energy, and generated record-breaking participation by the station`s young listeners. Rush`s song will be used to help advertise the availability of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services at a growing nationwide network of VCT centers called "New Start". The VCT centers — and the music competition — are supported under the U.S. President`s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
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The competition was launched in January 2005, and for six weeks a panel of judges met to listen to songs submitted on tape and CD. Three songs were identified for an on-air audience vote and one song was chosen by the audience each week for the final competition. Although the competition format is not new, this initiative addressed a critical health and development issue in an original way, using a leading opinion maker among youth (Radio Energy) and Namibian celebrities to target at-risk youth. The format was enhanced by getting listener participation in identifying the correct message.
The Social Marketing Association supports 13 VCT centers across Namibia. Between February 2003 and March 2005 SMA provided counseling and testing services to over 25,000 people. |
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REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE MADE EASIER
 The Namibian Regional Trade Programme (NRTP), a two-year USAID-funded program implemented by ECIAfrica Consulting in collaboration with the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was officially launched on April 15, 2005 at the NCCI Offices by Hon. Bernhardt Esau, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry and Gary Newton, the Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development. Its main objectives are to:
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1. Build capacity and competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) owned by historically disadvantaged Namibians (HDN) to export into the Southern African region and beyond;
2. Support HDN SMEs in exploiting franchise opportunities; and,
3. Develop and offer business matchmaking and market information services.
The NRTP identifies and selects HDN SMEs with export and high growth potential. Once identified, a needs assessment is carried out, followed by individually targeted assistance interventions. A few SMEs need only limited support, while most SMEs require more substantial assistance ranging from company restructuring, to product and service improvement, and market exposure.
The Training and Technical Assistance Fund (TTAF), a component of the program, is used to cost share with SMEs to help them fund product development, create marketing materials, and participate in trade fairs, as well as undertake business missions within the region and beyond. Most TTAF funds are used to hire local service providers to assist the firms. Further assistance is for business matchmaking, providing marketing information and enabling HDN SMEs to exploit franchise opportunities and access financing.
Since the establishment of NRTP six months ago, 31 SMEs have benefited from its services, enabling them to enhance their capacity and competitiveness in regional and international markets. Assisted SMEs have recorded business transactions worth N$1.2 million within the first seven months of the program.
Synergies have been established with other SME support institutions in Namibia, as well as with the Ministry of Trade and Industry. In addition, the NRTP assisted-SMEs can access ECIAfrica`s network of regional trade specialists in Zambia, Angola, Tanzania and South Africa, as well as link into the USAID-supported Southern African Regional Trade Hub, based in Gaborone. In his concluding remarks, Gary Newton said, "We look forward to continued collaboration with Ministry of Trade and Industry, ECIAfrica, NCCI and development partners in our collective effort to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in Namibia, the engine of private sector growth in Namibia." |
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