On the edge of the desert - a Namaqualand story: 1800-1909
Date
2010-07-09T07:44:29Z
Authors
Kelso, Clare Joanne
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Abstract
This research aims to identify the causes of impoverishment of the rural
community of Leliefontein in Namaqualand during the 19th century. This is
achieved through integrated, multi-disciplinary environmental assessment, in
which the drivers of decline, both climatic and socio-economic are identified.
The primary research is predominantly archival making use of historical
documentary sources. The study includes two parts: a full reconstruction of the
climate of the Namaqualand area using historical documentary sources and a
detailed socio-economic history. To achieve the climatic reconstruction a proxy
precipitation data set is compiled for the Namaqualand area using historical
documentary sources. This data set is graphically represented and the notable
periods of severe drought identified include: 1805; 1807; 1812; 1817; 1820-1821;
1825-1827; 1834-1836; 1844-1845; 1855-1857, 1860-1862; 1865-1868; 1874-
1875; 1880-1883; 1893-1896. The documentary derived data set is tested for
accuracy against available rainfall data for the period spanning 1878-1900 and
overall a close correlation is revealed. In addition, widespread droughts were
identified using other similar studies and possible co-incidence with El NiƱo
Southern Oscillation low phase events is postulated. Drought frequency and
intensity is revealed to have been similar throughout the 19th century however, the
ability of the Leliefontein Namaqua population to cope with these droughts
declines sharply. The reasons for this emerge though the second part of the
research, the historical livelihoods and vulnerability study. The community
experience decline from sustainable livelihoods at the beginning of the 19th
century to poverty and famine by the end of the period. This deterioration is not
constant and the period spanning 1816-1853 shows relative improvement due to
nomadic pastoral livelihoods and the addition of seasonal agriculture. However,
increased diversity of livelihoods and increased exposure to external economic
factors result in rapid decline in the second half of the century. Exploitative cattle
trade, encroachment and settlement by the colonial population, the introduction of
agriculture, copper mining and the introduction of wage labour, the growth of a
cash based economy and the restriction of land availability for transhumance lead
to a dramatic decrease in community resilience in the second half of the century,
resulting in each successive drought having worse effects. Finally, the role of the
written word in representing the Namaqua population is interrogated. The
function of Colonial scripting in justifying exploitative policy making and
legitimating the expropriation of land and the extraction of labour is interrogated.
This integrated study reveals the importance of including both human and
anthropogenic factors in environmental historigraphy. Socio-economic changes
and disempowerment drive the decline in Namaqualand, but climatic factors
severely compound this and hasten the decline.