The assessment is an independent analysis of the broad causal relationships and assumptions underlying one of USAID, Namibia's Strategic Objectives, which is to help bring about 'increased benefits to historically disadvantaged Namibians from sustainable local management of natural resources'. The term 'environmental threat' is used here to mean an unsustainable environmental trend, caused by human activities in an arid and highly variable environment, which leads to the degradation or depletion of valuable natural resources.