'Give back the land if you can't farm'

Northwest division chief veterinarian Dr Kennedy Shoombe says Mangetti agriculturists must stop calling themselves farmers, and instead call themselves livestock keepers for weddings and funerals.

“If you cannot farm, give the land to those who want to farm. You have enough land and boreholes.

“Why can't you also establish gardens? You cannot only be concentrating on cattle,” Shoombe said.

“Some of you must also consider producing livestock feed for others and some must de-bush others' farms to prevent bush encroachment and produce charcoal.

“Those are all elements of true farmers. You must also make time to be with your cattle.” According to Shoombe, there are 200 000 cattle in the area that are not being put to any economic use.

He said the Mangetti farmers are also partly to blame for the country's economic woes because they are keeping hundreds of cattle on their farms without contributing to Namibia's GDP.

Shoombe said this on Saturday during the handing over of cattle-handling facilities by the agriculture ministry to the Mangetti Farmers Association (MFA) at the Okapya Livestock Development Centre (LDC)

About 100 farmers gathered to receive the facilities.

The centre's caretaker, Tuhafeni Sheuyange, told the farmers that government had provisionally approved that they use the facilities.

“The approval is only for the association to use the facilities during the auction on 6 April. It will be after this auction that the ministry will decide your fate,” said Sheuyange.

“You therefore need to prove to the government that you are serious and that you are also able to maintain the facilities. You indicated in your application that the aim of the auction is to reduce pressure on pasture on your farms during this drought.”

Shoombe said with the number of cattle in the Mangetti area, farmers are not supposed to be crying foul, but that they should be the ones assisting government during the current economic hardships.

“I am looking at millionaires as I am looking at you, but in reality you are all poor. You are having a lot of cattle, but you do not have asset value for your cattle. None of you earn an income from your farms, but you all spend money from your pockets on your farms,” said Shoombe.

“We need to change so that the money that is in your Mangetti farms can get into your pockets. You must stop with your current culture of farming for weddings and funerals.”

He said there are no farming activities at these farms. He said they are encroached by bush and he wonders what the farmworkers are doing.

MFA chairperson Ismael Shailemo said the association has over 200 members.

He said in the Mangetti area there is a block of 96 farms that were allocated by the government in the 1980s, while four were kept by the agriculture ministry for the Okapya LDC.

There are also farms in the area that were allocated by the Ondonga Traditional Authority.

Many prominent Namibians are farming in the area. After the second national land conference, the ministry of lands started allocating leasehold rights to farmers in the Mangetti area.

Shoombe said the area is just a settlement like many others, but farmers have not paid any fee for the land for the past 40 years, yet they are crying to the government for help.

Shoombe also told the Mangetti farmers that during the coming auction he does not want to only see them selling cattle amongst each other.

A 12-member committee has been appointed to facilitate the auction and help the association to maintain the cattle-handling facilities.

The committee is chaired by Veiko Namwoonde and the secretary is Sunday Shalli.

Other members are Julius Ambondo, Silvanus Haufiku, Paulus Shilongo, Daniel Ngesheya, Padelia Nghishongwa, John Shilongo, Veiko Andjamba, Kamukwatange, Itoolwa Josef and Kennedy Iyambo.

The farmers were requested to take their cattle to Okapya for the auction, accompanied by the relevant documents, on 5 April.

ILENI NANDJATO