Farming water demand jumps

Namibia's total water demand is expected to increase from 426.7 million cubic metres utilised in 2015 to 635.6 million by 2025. The bulk of this will be used by irrigated agriculture, which is expected to increase from 204.6 million cubic metres utilised in 2015 to 379.8 million by 2025. This is according to NamWater CEO Vaino Shivute, who spoke about the importance of water in agricultural production at a recent Bank of Namibia symposium with the theme 'Feeding Namibia: Agricultural Productivity and Industrialisation'. His message was that agriculture should adapt to using less water more efficiently.“Demand for irrigation water will increase significantly up to 2030. Demand for urban, mining and tourism water will increase gradually while rural and domestic demand will grow very slowly. Water for livestock consumption does not show any growth at all, suggesting that livestock numbers will not go up.”According to Shivute, due to population growth, urbanisation, industrialisation and climate change, improved water use efficiency will need to be matched by reallocation of as much as 40% of water in water-stressed regions from lower to higher productivity and employment activities.“Given that irrigated agriculture is on average at least twice as productive per unit of land compared to non-irrigated practices, it provides an important buffer against increasing climate variability, and allows for more secure crop diversification. Thus, it is certain that irrigation will continue to play a key role in ensuring food and nutrition security.”According to him there is an agreement between Namibia and Angola which makes provision for Namibia to abstract six cubic metres of water per second from the Kunene River. At the moment, Namibia is abstracting a third of this, at an average of two cubic metres per second. Shivute explained that Namibia is entitled to draw about 189 million cubic metres of water per year from the Kunene. Currently, the country is only using about 63 million cubic metres. “This is about a third of what the country is entitled to. The implication here means that Namibia can actually set up at least two irrigation schemes the size of the Etunda Irrigation Scheme in the north.”He said by claiming its fair share of the water from the Kunene River, Namibia would be able to produce more crops under irrigation. In terms of international protocols, a country can only claim its fair share of a shared river by utilising the water. However, Shivute said Namibia must invest in irrigation infrastructure for this to be viable.“The most important issue to consider here is to ensure that production takes place under irrigation wherever there is water that can be used for irrigation purposes.”According to him in order to maximise the use of water, there is a need to look at irrigation technology.“The technology is available. Namibia must simply acquire the technology and put it to good use. Thus, the volume of water that Namibia has at its disposal can enable the country to establish a viable crop sector producing more than enough to meet local demand and also to produce for processing industries.” ELLANIE SMIT

Farming water demand jumps

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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Farming water demand jumps

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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