Assessment of Drought Coping Strategies Practiced by the Households in the Oshipya District of Etayi Constituency in Northern Namibia

An Item Response Theory Approach

Abstract

The study objective was to estimate the level of vulnerability and resilience to drought for households in Oshipya District in the Etayi Constrituency in nothern Namibia. Levels of household resilience and vulnerability to drought shocks were estimated from ex-ante and ex-post coping strategies respectively, using the Rasch item response theory model. The study showed that risk reduction coping strategies are poorly implemented, thus, making the communal households vulnerable to drought consequences. Instead, households resorted to impact management strategies like disposal of assets. It is encouraged that households prepare for drought by stocking crop residues, planting early maturing drought resistant crops, irrigation and diversification of livelihood activities and sending livestock to cattle posts. After the development of several policies and programmes on disaster risk management, thorough assessments of utilization and impact should be done regularly to reduce the expenditure on drought relief programmes as households will be more drought resilient.