The wind blows strong over the arid plains of Namibia. Between red dunes and golden savannas, a new generation is rising, driven not by the force of weapons or slogans, but by the conviction that nature is a heritage worth defending. They are not yet thirty, but already, they are changing the face of the environmental struggle in their country.
A youth awakened to the climate emergency
“We can no longer wait. The desert advances, the rains retreat. If we do nothing, only sand will remain,” says Tuhafeni Amukoto, 27, founder of Green Roots Namibia, a local NGO based in Windhoek.
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Like him, dozens of young Namibians have decided not to remain bystanders. In a country where more than 70% of the territory is semi-arid, the effects of climate change are visible to the naked eye: groundwater levels are dropping, harvests are declining, and rural communities are increasingly vulnerable.
In 2023, a study by the Ministry of the Environment revealed that the average temperature in Namibia had risen by 1.2 °C in just three decades. “This is not an abstraction for us. It is our daily reality,” insists Tuhafeni.
Local projects, global impact
In Swakopmund, on the Atlantic coast, another voice rises: that of Lize Eises, 24, marine biologist and environmental activist. She launched Ocean Echo, an initiative to raise awareness among young people about plastic pollution on Namibia’s coastlines.
“Every tide brings back hundreds of pieces of waste. What we consume in Windhoek ends up in the ocean. We had to act,” she explains. Through her cleanup campaigns and school workshops, Lize has mobilized more than 3,000 young people in two years.
Her initiative even caught the attention of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which invited her to the Youth Climate Conference in Nairobi. “I understood that our fight in Swakopmund was part of the same battle fought by young people around the world,” she shares with pride.
Reconciling tradition and ecology
In the north of the country, near the Omusati region, another face of this committed youth emerges: that of Ndapewa Kuutondokwa, 29, from the Owambo community. She works to reconcile ancestral practices with the demands of modern conservation.
“Our grandparents knew how to live with nature. But this knowledge is being lost. I want to pass it on, to adapt it,” she says. With her collective EcoHeritage, she organizes intergenerational circles, where elders and young people discuss the sustainable management of resources: pesticide-free farming, preservation of water sources, and the making of natural soaps from local plants.
Her approach has won over several rural schools, which have integrated these practices into their curriculum. “Children are learning to cultivate the land without harming it. It is more than a biology lesson — it is a life lesson,” highlights a teacher from the Oshikuku school.
Green technology and local innovation
In Katutura, a popular district of Windhoek, the noise of 3D printers mingles with the lively discussions of a small group of young people. Here, in a former garage converted into a laboratory, lives the project EcoTechLab, founded by Michael Shikongo, 25, a self-taught engineer.
“We collect electronic waste, dismantle it, and create useful objects: water filters, solar lamps, low-cost irrigation systems,” he explains, eyes gleaming. The idea is simple: make technology accessible and sustainable.
Since its launch in 2021, EcoTechLab has trained more than 150 young people, many of whom had no access to university. “They leave with concrete skills and an ecological awareness. That is the future,” says Michael.
The project recently received micro-financing from the Green Innovation Fund for Southern Africa, enabling the opening of two new workshops in the Kavango and Erongo regions.
Mobilizing through art and culture
In Lüderitz, a port city with colonial charm, a voice rises in a different way. That of Kesia Uiras, 22, spoken word artist and poet. She uses the stage to denounce deforestation, pollution, and political inaction.
“Words strike where numbers fail,” she says. Her texts, deeply moving, evoke trees being felled, rivers dying, and children growing up without knowing rain. At a local festival, she moved an audience of fishermen and tourists to tears.
With her collective Art4Earth, she organizes performances in underprivileged neighborhoods, blending music, painting, and theater. “Ecology is not just for scientists. It is a matter of the heart, of culture,” she affirms.
Immense challenges, tenacious hope
Of course, nothing is simple. The lack of funding, the indifference of authorities, and sometimes even the hostility of certain communities slow these efforts. But Namibia’s young leaders are not giving up.
“People often tell us we are too idealistic. But if we don’t imagine a different future, who will?” says Tuhafeni, his gaze turned toward the horizon. For him, as for so many others, environmental commitment is an urgency, but also a promise: that of a country choosing life over exhaustion.
In Namibia, young people are no longer content to dream. They plant, they clean, they create, they speak. And perhaps, in this new breath, lies the key to a future that is more just, more green, more alive.
But the question remains: will the world listen to these voices coming from the desert, before it is too late?
Also read on African dynamics
To place this topic in a continental perspective, also consult GDP of African countries, profitable businesses in Africa, African capitals and jobs recruiting in Africa.
