Short course for journalists on land matters
Thursday, September 6th, 2018, 8h30-13h30, NUST Hotel School

The role of the media in the public discourse in Namibia is considerable. At the same time, despite the widespread use of social media, the youth appears to have a higher degree of trust in printed media .

The looming Second Land Conference has enhanced the interest in ‘the land question’. Differently from the Land Conference in 1990, this more recent edition is set to have an increased focus in urban and ancestral land questions.

The challenge of gathering the necessary evidence for an informed debate has been raised by those involved in the initial conference . This in fact represents a ‘double challenge’, in that the information needs to be not only pooled together, but also actively disseminated.

This proposal aims at strategically addressing part of this challenge, by offering pedagogical material for media houses in Namibia to be better equipped to report on the issue. The precedent for this can be found in South African university-based research institutions that have partnered with non-governmental organisations to produce a ‘crash course’ for journalism at a time in which the country is also revising its land policy approach.

For this, we have developed a set of 'fact sheets' containing some of the key points on land-related issues in contemporary Namibia. These ‘fact sheet’ documents will be presented at a workshop for journalists in Namibia to create the opportunity for interaction and questions.

Contributors include Prof Wolfgang Werner (Department of Land and Property Sciences, NUST), Prof Mutjinde Katjiua (Head, Department of Land and Property Sciences, NUST), Dr Anna Muller (National Coordinator, Namibia Housing Action Group), Guillermo Delgado (Integrated Land Management Institute NUST), Martin Mendelsohn (Research and Information Services of Namibia), Dr Romie Nghitevelekwa (Sociology Department, University of Namibia), and Vehaka Tjimune (Support to Land Reform, GIZ).

This event is the result of a partnership between the Editors Forum of Namibia (EFN), the Integrated Land Management Institute (ILMI), and support form the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and the Namibia Media Trust (NMT). Contacts: ILMI Management committee (ILMI.Admin@nust.na); Elizabeth M’ule, Coordinator, Editors' Forum of Namibia (EFN) (bupemule@gmail.com).

You can see the programme for the event here.

See presentation summarising the events of the day here.

You can see photos of this event here.

You can see a short clip of NBC reporting on the event here.

RESOURCES

TOPIC 1: ANCESTRAL LAND

 "Land dispossession and ancestral land claims" by Prof Mutjinde Katjiua, article in The Namibian on 27 March 2018 (see here).

TOPIC 2: LAND REFORM

'25 years of land reform' by W. Werner (download)

TOPIC 3: COMMUNAL LAND

'An enquiry into land markets in Namibia's communal areas' by J. Mendelsohn and R. Nghitevelekwa (download)

TOPIC 4: HOUSING

'Urban land reform in Namibia. Getting ready for Namibia's urban future' by P. Lühl and G. Delgado (download here).

TOPIC 5: URBAN LAND

 'Informal Settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth' Development Workshop (link to publication here)

De Vries, W. & Lewis, J. (2009). Are urban land tenure regulations in Namibia the solution or the problem? (Read here)

Pendleton et al. (2014). Migrant Windhoek: Rural–Urban Migration and Food Security in Namibia. (Read here)

TOPIC 6: INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS

"Choices in Freedom Square:  Bottom up Planning in Gobabis" SDFN-NHAG (Watch video here)

"Gobabis Community Planning Studio in Namibia" NHAG-SDFN (Watch video-presentation here)

"Freedom Square report" (Read report here)

"Community Driven Sanitation" SDFN (See video here)

Community Land Information Programme 2009 report (Read here)

'State of the World's Cities 2007/2008' (Read report here)