Green schemes can make Namibia self-sufficient – Schlettwein

Agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein says there’s enough local knowledge and capital to make Namibian green schemes flourish, but added that the cattle industry is in trouble."If all the country&#039;s green schemes are productive and can produce even just 10 tonnes per hectare, we have a surplus of grains."This is still without taking into account the crops Namibia produces on dry land. This is the potential we are sitting with."Schlettwein was speaking to farmers in Grootfontein last week. The meeting formed part of a trip to the Otjozondjupa Region, during which he visited NamibMills&#039; grain silos in Otavi. Discussions were also held with Otavi&#039;s town council, NamWater, farmers in Otavi and the region&#039;s governor.Foreigners not neededSchelttwein said Namibia has enough local knowledge as well as the necessary skill to revive the green schemes, without the need for foreigners or foreign resources."We have our pension fund as well as numerous sources of private capital, for which there is actually a desperate search for viable projects," he said."If we can combine these, we have everything we need without having to reach out to foreigners for help," he said.He added that Namibia is not currently self-sufficient in any crops, but that this year the country has come closer than ever regarding white maize production."I understand we harvested close to 110 000 tonnes of maize this year. To be self-sufficient, we need to be able to produce between 150 000 tonnes and 220 000 tonnes of maize – but this depends on how much mahangu has been harvested," he explained."We are getting there, but we still mainly rely on dryland production, where we have enormous potential for irrigation," he said.SugarDuring his visit to Otavi&#039;s mills, Schlettwein said Namibia is currently gets the short end of the stick because it has to buy sugar from South Africa at a high price."Sugar is purchased from South Africa in terms of the Southern African Development Community [SADC] protocol as well as a Southern African Customs Union [Sacu] arrangement. We do not have our own sugar producers."However, there is a problem with prices. If we import from South Africa, we don&#039;t get the benefits of the price parity compared to when they export to places outside Sacu. We pay more and I believe this is to our disadvantage," he said.Schlettwein added that the matter is currently being handled within Sacu."Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho should operate a system within Sacu where we can at least get export parity prices, especially if there are shortages."This is the big problem. If South Africa cannot supply sugar, we still cannot get export parity prices; we still have to buy at surplus prices. It is an unfair situation that should be rectified."Cattle industrySchlettwein explained to Otjozondjupa farmers that after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, government&#039;s focus shifted to being self-sufficient in terms of staple food."When it comes to protein, we produce large surpluses. However, we need to do something drastic in terms of our livestock production because the sector is in trouble."We believe the problem is a negative balance that shortens the value chain for value addition."That is because we sell weaners - we sell our beef in the most unprocessed form possible," he said. "Through this system, there are no possibilities to create wealth for other parties, apart from the farmer."We must maintain a better balance between the exports of weaned calves and slaughter-ready cattle ourselves. We then have to move back to process the product and sell it as a finished item,” he said.“This issue has reduced our leather industry to nothing. We no longer have a tannery. Our meat processing capacity has also decreased drastically. We used to be the leading producers of sausages, salami and other meat products."Currently we also do not have a single registered abattoir that makes money. All of them experience financial problems, mainly because there is too little throughput of slaughter animals. Correspondingly, parallel industries such as dog food manufacturers, which are usually associated with an abattoir, do not exist either," he said. "It needs to be fixed."

Green schemes can make Namibia self-sufficient – Schlettwein

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Namibian Sun 2026-08-05

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Green schemes can make Namibia self-sufficient – Schlettwein

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Namibian Sun 2026-08-05

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