The roles of the Uukwaluudhi Traditional Authority (UTA) and government institutions were assessed in the sustainable harvesting of the mopane worm Imbrasia (=Gonimbrasia) belina and in marketing this food item in northern Namibia. There has been a shift from harvesting mopane worms for subsistence to trading them in both rural and urban markets. The increasing importance of the mopane worms in the urban diet has caused overexploitation of the insect. Unless this common property food resource is managed in a sustainable manner, there could be very low populations and market failure for the crop. It is recommended that the government improves the property rights and institutional arrangements that govern the use of mopane worms by supporting communities to establish indigenous natural resource management systems. Keywords: By-laws, Edible-insect, overharvesting of mopane worms.