NAU wants stats on land
The Namibia Agricultural Union says the willing-seller, willing-buyer land reform principle cannot be described as a failure without statistical evidence.
The Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) has added its voice to the debate ahead of the upcoming land conference in October.
The union has urged the lands ministry to urgently release official statistics on the total hectares of farmland offered to the government since 2008, the total hectares of land bought by the ministry and the total hectares of land for which the government issued a waiver to sell on the open market.
Only then, it says, will we know whether the willing-seller, willing-buyer concept has failed.
NAU executive manager Roelie Venter said these figures should transparently be made available to all Namibians on a regional basis.
“After the release of this information Namibians will be able to determine whether the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle was a successful method to implement land reform or not.”
The latest available statistics of the NAU shows that by the end of 2016, more than 60% of land in Namibia belonged to either the government or previously disadvantaged individuals.
Namibia's land ownership is made up of 32.6 million hectares of communal land registered in the government's name and 37.5 million hectares of commercial farms registered in the name of individual title deed holders.
According to Venter, the NAU developed a land ownership database of all title deeds in Namibia and continuously monitors progress with land reform and change in ownership of title-deed farms.
“Due to a successful and peaceful land reform process in Namibia, previously disadvantaged individuals as well as government currently own 9.2 million hectares of title-deed areas in Namibia. These figures were updated up to the end of 2016.”
Venter said the union supports the government's target to acquire 5 million hectares of land for resettlement and 10 million hectares through the Affirmative Action Loan Scheme.
“It is, however, critical to realise that everyone in Namibia needs to find solutions together for this national issue. Landowners cannot solely be held responsible for this issue.”
Venter said the union has made it clear since independence that it supported the land reform process and formulated several documents concerning land reform over the years. It has also consulted with the land reform ministry on challenges with the implementation of land reform.
According to him Namibia's land reform process already started during the 1980s and as far back as 1995, the government has always obtained the first right of refusal to buy land which comes onto the market.
Any landowner who wants to sell their farm must offer the farm to the government. If the government is not interested in the farm the owner then obtains the right to sell in the open market.
There are several critical issues that the union says need to be addressed at the land conference.
Venter said the union believes the ultimate aim of land reform in Namibia should be to grow employment as well as the total agricultural output of Namibia.
He said land reform could only be regarded a success if the beneficiaries of land reform farmed on a financially sustainable basis and were able to further invest in the land to improve productivity.
Furthermore, Venter said a programme should be developed where beneficiaries of resettlement should receive ownership of the land in order to use this as collateral to enable them to invest further in their land.
“Increased investments in mentorship programmes and capacity strengthening are critical to support these new farmers to sustain their financial success.”
He added that the union supports the expropriation of land with fair compensation within the current legal framework provided for in the Namibian constitution and the relevant laws.
“Before drafting of the regulations the NAU was involved in making recommendations on the criteria to determine the sustainability of a specific title deed for expropriation.”
Seeking a solution to address the urgent need for land in urban areas is another a critical issue to enable all Namibians to own a piece of land they can call home, said Venter.
“Transfer of ownership to individuals in urban areas will immensely contribute to wealth creation and a sense of pride for each beneficiary.”
ELLANIE SMIT
The union has urged the lands ministry to urgently release official statistics on the total hectares of farmland offered to the government since 2008, the total hectares of land bought by the ministry and the total hectares of land for which the government issued a waiver to sell on the open market.
Only then, it says, will we know whether the willing-seller, willing-buyer concept has failed.
NAU executive manager Roelie Venter said these figures should transparently be made available to all Namibians on a regional basis.
“After the release of this information Namibians will be able to determine whether the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle was a successful method to implement land reform or not.”
The latest available statistics of the NAU shows that by the end of 2016, more than 60% of land in Namibia belonged to either the government or previously disadvantaged individuals.
Namibia's land ownership is made up of 32.6 million hectares of communal land registered in the government's name and 37.5 million hectares of commercial farms registered in the name of individual title deed holders.
According to Venter, the NAU developed a land ownership database of all title deeds in Namibia and continuously monitors progress with land reform and change in ownership of title-deed farms.
“Due to a successful and peaceful land reform process in Namibia, previously disadvantaged individuals as well as government currently own 9.2 million hectares of title-deed areas in Namibia. These figures were updated up to the end of 2016.”
Venter said the union supports the government's target to acquire 5 million hectares of land for resettlement and 10 million hectares through the Affirmative Action Loan Scheme.
“It is, however, critical to realise that everyone in Namibia needs to find solutions together for this national issue. Landowners cannot solely be held responsible for this issue.”
Venter said the union has made it clear since independence that it supported the land reform process and formulated several documents concerning land reform over the years. It has also consulted with the land reform ministry on challenges with the implementation of land reform.
According to him Namibia's land reform process already started during the 1980s and as far back as 1995, the government has always obtained the first right of refusal to buy land which comes onto the market.
Any landowner who wants to sell their farm must offer the farm to the government. If the government is not interested in the farm the owner then obtains the right to sell in the open market.
There are several critical issues that the union says need to be addressed at the land conference.
Venter said the union believes the ultimate aim of land reform in Namibia should be to grow employment as well as the total agricultural output of Namibia.
He said land reform could only be regarded a success if the beneficiaries of land reform farmed on a financially sustainable basis and were able to further invest in the land to improve productivity.
Furthermore, Venter said a programme should be developed where beneficiaries of resettlement should receive ownership of the land in order to use this as collateral to enable them to invest further in their land.
“Increased investments in mentorship programmes and capacity strengthening are critical to support these new farmers to sustain their financial success.”
He added that the union supports the expropriation of land with fair compensation within the current legal framework provided for in the Namibian constitution and the relevant laws.
“Before drafting of the regulations the NAU was involved in making recommendations on the criteria to determine the sustainability of a specific title deed for expropriation.”
Seeking a solution to address the urgent need for land in urban areas is another a critical issue to enable all Namibians to own a piece of land they can call home, said Venter.
“Transfer of ownership to individuals in urban areas will immensely contribute to wealth creation and a sense of pride for each beneficiary.”
ELLANIE SMIT
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