Diego Augusto Menestrey Schwieger
Biographic Data
| ID | 73661 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Diego Augusto Menestrey Schwieger |
| GIVEN NAMES | Diego Augusto Menestrey |
| FAMILY NAME | Schwieger |
| SIGNATURE | SCHWIEGER D A M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cologne |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6874-9291 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 28 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Understanding Rangeland Desertification at the Village Level: A Comparative Study with a Social-Ecological Systems Perspective in Namibia
Desertification poses significant environmental and socio-economic threats to pastoral systems within the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa. However, there remains a paucity of interdisciplinary studies delving into the anthropogenic drivers of desertification at the local level of social-ecological systems, resulting in an inadequate understanding of its human-induced causes. This research aims to bridge this gap by presenting three case studies fr…
Addressing rangeland degradation in Namibia's communal areas
Over-reliance on water infrastructure can hinder climate resilience in pastoral drylands
Extreme droughts are affecting millions of livestock farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, causing water shortages, famines, migration and fatalities. The construction of new small water infrastructures (SWIs), such as deep wells and boreholes, is increasingly supported by climate resilience programmes of non-governmental organizations and national governments to improve water availability for agro-pastoralists, especially as an emergency response to ex…
Pastoralists’ perceptions on the future of cattle farming amidst rangeland degradation: A case study from Namibia's semiarid communal areas
Overcoming Namibia’s worst drought in the last 40 years: Ethnographic insights from Okakarara constituency
In 2019, Namibia experienced one of the worst droughts in recent decades, significantly affecting its agricultural economy, especially the livestock production sector. In this context, there is limited literature about how pastoral farmers in the country’s communal agricultural areas navigated this severe dryness. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by introducing a case study involving Ovaherero pastoralists in the Okakarara constituency. Fo…
When Design Principles Do Not Apply: The Role of Individual Commitment and “Voluntarism” in Maintaining Communal Water Supply in Northern Kunene, Namibia
Blueprints resembling Ostrom’s (1990) design principles have been used in Namibia’s northern Kunene to instruct pastoral communities in managing boreholes in their localities. However, these blueprints are only marginally adopted by local agents, and consequently, Ostrom’s design principles do not fully apply. Water shortages are not the immediate outcome of these circumstances as, due to the individual commitment of mostly young men, communal wa…
Ethnographic Upscaling: Exploring and Testing Hypotheses Drawn from In-depth Ethnographic Findings in Spatially Continuous Cases
This article introduces ethnographic upscaling, an innovative procedure to explore and test hypotheses drawn from in-depth ethnographic findings in spatially continuous cases. The approach combines the strength of localized ethnographic descriptions with questionnaire-based regional surveys to study the distribution of ethnographic findings across social groups by comparison. The approach was designed in the Local Institutions in Globalized Socie…
Negotiating Water on Unequal Terms: Cattle Loans, Dependencies and Power in Communal Water Management in Northwest Namibia
This article shows how the distribution of costs for communal boreholes in the Kunene region of northwest Namibia is largely shaped by patron-client relationships based on cattle loans among pastoralists. Drawing on a case study in the context of state water decentralisation reforms, the paper argues that, while cattle loans provide livelihood security for poor Himba herders, they also limit their bargaining power with regards to negotiating loca…
Fragmentation, Cooperation and Power: Institutional Dynamics in Natural Resource Governance in North-Western Namibia
Fragmentation, Cooperation and Power: Institutional Dynamics in Natural Resource Governance in North-Western Namibia
Overcoming Namibia’s worst drought in the last 40 years: Ethnographic insights from Okakarara constituency
In 2019, Namibia experienced one of the worst droughts in recent decades, significantly affecting its agricultural economy, especially the livestock production sector. In this context, there is limited literature about how pastoral farmers in the country’s communal agricultural areas navigated this severe dryness. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by introducing a case study involving Ovaherero pastoralists in the Okakarara constituency. Fo…
Addressing rangeland degradation in Namibia's communal areas
Ethnographic Upscaling: Exploring and Testing Hypotheses Drawn from In-depth Ethnographic Findings in Spatially Continuous Cases
This article introduces ethnographic upscaling, an innovative procedure to explore and test hypotheses drawn from in-depth ethnographic findings in spatially continuous cases. The approach combines the strength of localized ethnographic descriptions with questionnaire-based regional surveys to study the distribution of ethnographic findings across social groups by comparison. The approach was designed in the Local Institutions in Globalized Socie…
Negotiating Water on Unequal Terms: Cattle Loans, Dependencies and Power in Communal Water Management in Northwest Namibia
This article shows how the distribution of costs for communal boreholes in the Kunene region of northwest Namibia is largely shaped by patron-client relationships based on cattle loans among pastoralists. Drawing on a case study in the context of state water decentralisation reforms, the paper argues that, while cattle loans provide livelihood security for poor Himba herders, they also limit their bargaining power with regards to negotiating loca…
Fragmentation, Cooperation and Power: Institutional Dynamics in Natural Resource Governance in North-Western Namibia
Negotiating Water on Unequal Terms: Cattle Loans, Dependencies and Power in Communal Water Management in Northwest Namibia
This article shows how the distribution of costs for communal boreholes in the Kunene region of northwest Namibia is largely shaped by patron-client relationships based on cattle loans among pastoralists. Drawing on a case study in the context of state water decentralisation reforms, the paper argues that, while cattle loans provide livelihood security for poor Himba herders, they also limit their bargaining power with regards to negotiating loca…
When Design Principles Do Not Apply: The Role of Individual Commitment and “Voluntarism” in Maintaining Communal Water Supply in Northern Kunene, Namibia
Blueprints resembling Ostrom’s (1990) design principles have been used in Namibia’s northern Kunene to instruct pastoral communities in managing boreholes in their localities. However, these blueprints are only marginally adopted by local agents, and consequently, Ostrom’s design principles do not fully apply. Water shortages are not the immediate outcome of these circumstances as, due to the individual commitment of mostly young men, communal wa…
Ethnographic Upscaling: Exploring and Testing Hypotheses Drawn from In-depth Ethnographic Findings in Spatially Continuous Cases
This article introduces ethnographic upscaling, an innovative procedure to explore and test hypotheses drawn from in-depth ethnographic findings in spatially continuous cases. The approach combines the strength of localized ethnographic descriptions with questionnaire-based regional surveys to study the distribution of ethnographic findings across social groups by comparison. The approach was designed in the Local Institutions in Globalized Socie…
Overcoming Namibia’s worst drought in the last 40 years: Ethnographic insights from Okakarara constituency
In 2019, Namibia experienced one of the worst droughts in recent decades, significantly affecting its agricultural economy, especially the livestock production sector. In this context, there is limited literature about how pastoral farmers in the country’s communal agricultural areas navigated this severe dryness. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by introducing a case study involving Ovaherero pastoralists in the Okakarara constituency. Fo…
Over-reliance on water infrastructure can hinder climate resilience in pastoral drylands
Extreme droughts are affecting millions of livestock farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, causing water shortages, famines, migration and fatalities. The construction of new small water infrastructures (SWIs), such as deep wells and boreholes, is increasingly supported by climate resilience programmes of non-governmental organizations and national governments to improve water availability for agro-pastoralists, especially as an emergency response to ex…
Pastoralists’ perceptions on the future of cattle farming amidst rangeland degradation: A case study from Namibia's semiarid communal areas
Understanding Rangeland Desertification at the Village Level: A Comparative Study with a Social-Ecological Systems Perspective in Namibia
Desertification poses significant environmental and socio-economic threats to pastoral systems within the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa. However, there remains a paucity of interdisciplinary studies delving into the anthropogenic drivers of desertification at the local level of social-ecological systems, resulting in an inadequate understanding of its human-induced causes. This research aims to bridge this gap by presenting three case studies fr…
Addressing rangeland degradation in Namibia's communal areas
Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology (9 works) · Geography (6 works) · Agriculture (5 works) · Economics (5 works) · Environmental planning (4 works) · Environmental resource management (4 works) · Environmental Science (4 works) · Livestock (4 works) · Pastoralism (4 works) · Business (3 works)