The development of practical systems to monitor the natural resource base are seen as essential to equip farmers with reliable management tools for use on-farm. A decision-making support system needs to be established that allows the farmer to make informed management decisions, for example concerning grazing and water resources. Whereas it is essential to develop reliable monitoring tools, it is equally important to develop systems that can easily be adopted and applied by farmers. The study area was located in north-western Namibia, in southern Kunene region, formerly known as Damaraland. The three main study sites are situated in an area of relatively similar range of 150-250mm mean annual rainfall and on similar parent material, which is predominately made of gneiss.
Vegetation types are also comparable.
They are interested in developing such systems, often have a profound knowledge of the ecology and processes on their farms and they are keen to develop management systems that allow them to use resources in an adaptive manner. Traditionally farmers use vegetation based assessments to determine range condition. In variable environments, which are predominant in Namibia, vegetation is often inconspicuous in years of prolonged drought, and therefore vegetation indicators are not useful in determining whether an area is degraded or not. A place that looks totally overgrazed today might flourish with palatable forage after adequate rains. Areas under high land use intensity were more constrained than areas under light land use.