Uphill battle for resettled farmers
OTJIWARONGO - A myriad of challenges continues to affect farmers who have been resettled through the government’s resettlement programme meant to address land redistribution.
A wide range of impediments such as lack of training, water scarcity, lack of access to sufficient funding, limited farming implements and bush encroachment are but some of the many challenges hampering successful farming activities by resettled farmers in the Otjozondjupa region.
This came to light, during an oversight visit by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources at resettlement farms in the Otjozondjupa region from 15 May 2023 to 17 May 2023. The committee is visiting the two regions of Otjozondjupa and Omaheke to among others, assess productivity at resettlement farms, ascertain whether there is any support offered by government in terms of financing and training and the role played by resettlement farmers to create jobs and boost food self-sufficiency as part of efforts to alleviate poverty. The Otjozondjupa region has 79 farming units, benefiting over 240 farmers.
Vincent Mareka, who is leading the delegation that includes other lawmakers Jan Van Wyk and Mike Venaani, reiterated during visits to both Okapuka and Sumas farming units that Namibia with its abundant fertile land had the potential to be selfsufficient, adding that government needed to fully support farmers by offering both training and financial support during the pre and post resettlement phase. He also recommended that farmers be given title deeds to enable them to acquire loans.
“We cannot continue to import 80% of our food requirements from outside when we have so much fertile land and water. Agriculture should be able to unlock our potential. We should be able to diversify our crops in order to feed ourselves and create employment. The Russia-Ukraine war is wake up call. For us to solve the issue of food imports, we need to support and empower our local farmers by offering training, funds, title deeds and helping them with access to a market,” implored Mareka.
One of resettled farmers in the Okaputa farming units, Stanley Sitali, who employs six workers, hailed government’s resettlement programme but noted what has been lacking is government support as farmers are left to fend for themselves.
“We commend government for this resettlement programme but the assistance given to beneficiaries has been very minimal. Water has been a challenge for me and I had to find means to drill my own boreholes which is a very costly
exercise. Water scarcity has been a hindrance for me to keep enough large livestock as water available is only enough for domestic use and gardening,” bemoaned Sitali.
He further stated that as a resettled farmer, the lease agreement did not allow him to keep more than 200 cattle as per the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and LandReform’sdirective,pertaining to prevention of overgrazing and land degradation. Apart from this, bush encroachment has also continued to be a challenge. He implored government to introduce a programme aimed at assisting farmers with de-bushing, an exercise that has proven to be both labour intensive and costly.
Elia Akwaake, who also owns a farming unit in Okaputa, echoed similar sentiments stating that his allocated farm unit measuring 1 795 hectares, was not large enough for him to fully venture into commercial farming as he is restricted to keep cattle that is less than 200. He suggested that government look into increasing the number of hectares to at least
3 000 for farmers to engage in meaningful agricultural activities.
“I don’t understand how government came up with this size. These hectares are too little to do any commercial farming. It is also hard to get financing from the bank as we are only permitted to get a once off amount of N$200 000 as resettled farmers. I had to use my own property as collateral to secure enough funds from Agribank to develop this farm,” noted Akwaake.
Even though there has been relative success at farm Sumas, Unit A, over 20 kilometres north east of Otavi, covering an area of over 4 800 hectares inhabited by eleven members of the Etupe cooperative, a number of similar challenges were also identified. One of the cooperative members, Gebhard Ashipala noted that access to the market for his agricultural produce that includes vegetables and maize, is limited. This predicament is worsened by poor road infrastructure and lack of support from government. Water scarcity is another challenge that has derailed progress at the farm that employs over 13 workers. Ashipala appealed to government to create a conducive environment for food producers in the country to sell their goods with ease. He further repeated appeals for more training and financial support.
One of the successful farmers in Okorusu No. 88, Johannes Damaseb noted that he has made great strides since he was resettled in 2006 but lack of access to financial support and stringent loan requirements, have adversely affected productivity on the farm. An award-winning farmer, Damaseb, employs over 10 permanent and 60 seasonal workers. He has been involved in intensive agricultural activities including supplying bale and other animal feeds to local farmers. Due to lack of farming equipment and infrastructure on his farm, Damaseb had to sacrifice his savings to procure some of the farming implements. Today, he not only sells his produce in Otjiwarongo and surrounding areas but also mentors fellow beneficiaries.
He bemoaned the once off N$200 000 loan amount offered by Agribank to resettlement farmers, adding that it was negligible given the massive infrastructural requirements on farming units. The cost of fertiliser was also identified as a major challenge.
Deputy director in the lands division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform in the Otjozondjupa region, Gottlieb Elifas concurred that there was lack of support to resettled farmers but added that the ministry’s limited budget allocation made it difficult to offer support. “We acknowledge that our resettled farmers are doing their best to be productive but lack support. However, as a ministry, our allocated budget only caters for acquisition of land and not infrastructural support and training,” stated Elifas.
The deputy director of planning and development in the Otjozondjupa regional council, Wilma Guriras during a meeting that followed between officials of the agriculture ministry and members of parliament revealed that government has been actively involved in reviewing the national resettlement policy of 2001. Gaps identified in the policy include a mismatch between the policy and the criteria for allocation of acquired land, lack of monitoring and evaluation of resettlement process and poor stakeholder involvement among many others.
The resettlement programme is guided by the National Resettlement Policy of 2001. Under the programme, government buys farms from commercial farmers for allocation to previously disadvantaged Namibians on a leasehold basis.