Smelling the Namibian Frontier: Neoliberal Conservation of Traditional Fragrance Materials and the Impact on Communal Livelihoods in the Kunene Region
Neoliberal conservation reframes commodification as the guarantor of sustainable protection and promises a ‘win7’-outcome for all stakeholders involved in the neoliberalisation processes. However, earlier research has shown that this win7-narrative does not represent reality but is a ‘discursive blur’. Critique on the discursive blur has resulted in demands for fairer resource governance such as Access and Benefit Sharing agreements (ABS). Yet, ABS agreements are no universal solution: they generate new problems and, due to the specialised knowledge required to navigate them, often exclude those they should actually empower.
My presentation examines one such case: the value chain of Omumbiri essential oil. The oil is derived from a resin native to Namibia’s Skeleton Coast. In early 2000s, an ABS-based commodification project a multinational company sought access to the resin’s distinctive olfactory properties, promising both socio-economic development for local OvaHimba communities, and conservation through improved valuation. Unlike comparable resources such as Devil’s Claw or Honeybush, Omumbiri essential oil failed to generate significant market demand, and sales remain minimal. The anticipated development has not materialised, and OvaHimba communities fear the collapse of the value chain and the absence of development. Drawing on my ethnographic fieldwork with three Omumbiri-selling Himba communities in early 2025, I explore why the value chain continues to fail, and why Omumbiri is understood as ‘unfit’ for the global fragrance market.
Registration LinkAnna Céline Schäfer ( M.A)
Doctoral researcher in project ‘S(m)elling the Wild’, University of Cologne
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