Roofing in Namibia

Namibia is a largely arid country whose roofs are dominated by corrugated iron sheet. Grass thatch remains important, covering about a quarter of households in the 2011 census sample, and Himba homesteads in the far north-west keep a building tradition of mopane timber plastered with clay and dung.

Climate and hazards

The country is largely arid to semi-arid, with most rain falling in summer storms. Mobility is part of the pastoral building tradition: Himba families may move their homes within a year depending on rainfall and access to water.

Roofing history

Census data show the recent pattern: in 2011 about three in five households had corrugated iron or zinc roofs and a quarter had grass thatch, and later survey reporting suggests metal has since gained further ground.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Himba homestead (onganda): a circular hamlet of huts and work shelters around the sacred ancestral fire (okuruwo) and a livestock kraal, in the Kunene Region (formerly Kaokoland). Houses are built of mopane wood, plastered by women with red clay soil and cow manure.
• Thatched round huts: the 2011 census records grass thatch on about a quarter of households, and walls of poles, sticks, grass or reeds on about 17%.
• Rondavel-type huts with conical thatch occur across the region (see Rondavel).

Roofing today

In the unweighted 2011 Population and Housing Census public-use sample (93,647 households with a recorded roof), roofs are recorded as:

Main roof material (H6)	Share of sampled households
Corrugated iron sheet / zinc	61.9%
Thatch grass	25.6%
Asbestos sheet	6.0%
Wood covered with malthoid	2.2%
Tin	0.8%
Sticks with mud, clay or cow dung	0.8%
Brick tiles	0.7%
Concrete	0.4%
Slate	0.3%
Other	1.2%

Walls in the same sample were mainly cement blocks, brick or stone (41.2%), corrugated iron or zinc (20.5%) and poles, sticks, grass or reeds (16.8%). A Namibia Statistics Agency report released in November 2022 put the share of households using corrugated iron sheets for roofing at 84.1%, suggesting a continued shift from thatch to metal; the report as published does not state the survey year for that figure.

Local roofing terms

• onganda (Otjiherero): homestead.
• okuruwo (Otjiherero): sacred ancestral fire at the centre of the homestead.
• malthoid: bituminous felt laid over timber, a census roof category.

Sources and gaps

Detailed archaeological or documentary evidence for early Namibian roofs: published information is limited. No national roofing standard was identified. No information on domestic roofing manufacturers was found in published sources. No roof-specific heritage listings were identified.

Census figures are unweighted counts in the public-use sample. Information on Owambo, Kavango and Caprivi (Zambezi) thatching practice, and on San grass shelters: published information is limited.