Through the removal of the herbaceous vegetation, particularly grasses, fire causes an imediate shortage of grazable material.  Since large areas are often burnt in the Caprivi Region, such a shortage can have serious consequences in terms of animal health and mortality.

After a few weeks, however, the perennial grasses sprout even in the middle of the dry season, providing fresh material for animals.  This 'out of season flush' has been traditionally used for veld management (Vedder, 1928  p. 43), and the practice is still advocated for game farm management today (Tainton 1999).

There is a long-term implication of such practices, however, since the early stimulation of growth causes the perennial grasses to use their root reserves for this out of season growth spurt.  These reserves would have been used later, at the onset of the rains.  The growth of individual plants is therefore less vigorous, and plants are easily overgrazed (Tainton 1999).

Apart from the direct effect that fire has on grazing, the prevailing fire regime (in terms of fire frequency and season) has an impact on the vegetations structure as a whole.

(The following link provides a simplification of the combined effect of fire frequency and season on vegetation structure)