Omusati Region
Omusati's 316,671 residents practice transhumant cattle grazing (ohambo) and subsistence farming, both devastated by 2024's drought emergency.
Omusati contains 316,671 people in Namibia's densely settled north, the subsistence farming and small-scale agriculture that characterize all four 'O' regions (Omusati, Oshana, Ohangwena, Oshikoto) supporting populations that southern Namibia's aridity cannot sustain. The region depends on rainfall that 2024's drought failed to deliver, crop failure joining flash floods in creating food insecurity that affected nearly a quarter of Namibia's population.
The Andoni and Ombuga grasslands north of Etosha provide seasonal grazing through the 'ohambo' system—cattle moved from densely populated home areas when local grazing depletes, then returned when distant pastures recover. This transhumance pattern represents adaptation to variable rainfall that sedentary agriculture cannot accommodate.
The 2024 state of emergency declared by Namibia's president particularly affected Omusati and neighboring regions, the climate vulnerability of subsistence farming exposed when rains fail. Whether traditional adaptation strategies like ohambo can manage increasing climate volatility—or whether northern Namibia faces population displacement toward urban areas—tests the resilience of systems that sustained communities for generations.