Agronomy Board takes over Amta

The Namibian Agronomy Board (NAB) says it had to take over the operations of the Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency (Amta) because the agency's poor performance jeopardised the board's regulatory functions.

The board promised that there would be no job losses, provided that Amta approach them to discuss the transfer of staff within the next two weeks.

“The Agronomy Board will make job offers to Amta's employees, but that will be according to our remuneration policy,” said NAB board chairman Michael Iyambo.

He said if Amta failed to make contact, the board would advertise the positions as soon as possible.

The NAB recently announced that it would take over all the functions of Amta on 1 April.

These include the collection of statutory levies and fees, the issuance of import, export and transport permits for agricultural produce, as well as handling the movement of fresh produce and grain at sea ports and airports.

Unsustainable

“The Agronomy Board is merely exercising its legal mandate. The board has a fiduciary responsibility to the agriculture and horticulture sectors, as well as consumers,” Iyambo said. He said the board was responsible for proper accounting of fees and levies received.

“This is the only way that the board can give a proper accounting to the auditor-general, through the minister.

“The current situation is unsustainable, and will never become sustainable, because of the ineffective collection of levies.”

Iyambo added that the NAB had been negotiating a transfer of regulatory functions with Amta and the agriculture ministry since 20 November 2018.

“The objective was to accelerate the transfer of functions, but the talks did not have the desired outcome,” he said.

Although the parties had agreed in June 2019 that Amta's functions would be transferred to the Agronomy Board by October last year, a poor response led to unnecessary delays, Iyambo explained.

Amta owes millions

Iyambo further said that Amta had not repaid the N$26 million that the board had advanced to it in 2017, despite countless meetings and letters to the ministry.

This money was supposed to have been used to buy grain from small-scale farmers. The proceeds should have been kept for future grain purchases.

“The Agronomy Board is ready to do what needs to be done to take over the regulatory functions on 1 April. There is no need for appointing any other agents to do this now or in future,” the chairman said.

Besides the functions already mentioned, Amta was mandated to ensure food security, enforce food safety standards and inspect farms and facilities.

In recent years Amta has often been in the news, most recently when it closed its last fresh-produce hub after cancelling an agreement with South African company Fysal Fresh Produce. The media have also reported on dubious land transactions and lavish salaries paid to Amta managers since 2013.

Amta was established as per a Cabinet decision as a specialised agency of the ministry of agriculture, water and forestry responsible for coordinating and managing the marketing of agricultural produce in Namibia.

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ELVIRA HATTINGH