800 farms for land reform

The Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) continues to support, with certain reservations, the government in its land reform goal to acquire 10 million hectares for title deed owners and 5 million hectares for resettlement.The NAU president Piet Gouws said this in the union’s annual report for 2020/2021.“Our willingness is confirmed by more than 800 farms currently available for trading. We hope and believe that selected farmers will benefit from this who will deliver responsible, efficient and increased production and will also contribute to the GDP, job creation as well as rural economic revival.”Gouws further said that land tax assessments have been outstanding for the past four years.He said landowners have had about eight years of debilitating drought, followed by a pandemic, so it will be difficult to pay these taxes.“We will strive to negotiate for possible instalment terms given the emergency marketing, erosion of livestock and current negative cash flow prevailing in agricultural circles.”Shrinking herdAccording to Gouws national livestock herds have decreased by 50% compared to 2016 and this offers an opportunity for grazing to recover.He said the reduced carbon footprint, along with excellent results and increased production, where applied correctly, is astounding.Unethical explorationGouws further said that the search for underground sources of wealth and prosperity is intensifying with the weakening of the world economy and has shifted the focus to opportunities that lie beneath the surface of the country.“Prospectors abound and virtually the entire country is subject to prospecting licences. Challenges are widely experienced by landowners due to the illegal and unethical behaviour of some institutions.”He said the NAU was therefore forced to seek legal assistance to equip members with contracts and negotiation skills.According to him, two additional issues on the priority list of the union are the essential proposed water legislation and the drought strategy, which have both been delayed for a long time.“Both have an impact on production potential and opportunities but can also have negative consequences if poorly defined and implemented. With the increasing change in production conditions, we should probably talk about a disaster management strategy rather than a drought strategy.”He said that farm attacks underscore the need for rural security and cooperation between the community, landowners and the police to prevent these events and to arrest culprits.

800 farms for land reform

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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800 farms for land reform

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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