Pastoralists’ perceptions on the future of cattle farming amidst rangeland degradation: A case study from Namibia's semiarid communal areas

•The perceptions of Namibian pastoralists on the future of livestock farming amidst land degradation have not been explored.•We address this gap by following a case study approach, involving semistructured interviews with Ovaherero pastoralists in the Okakarara Constituency, located in the eastern part of Namibia.•Pastoralists foresee multiple social-ecological challenges for the future of livestock production in their area.•They plan to employ various strategies to address and overcome the challenges, for instance, engaging more intensively in crop farming and conduct de-bushing.•Interventions such as training to effectively engage in crop farming, implementation of government-approved de-bushing plans, and introduction of low-cost water technologies for crop irrigation are needed.