NNFU and NAU in tussle

Rangeland management in the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) has divided farmers, who are blaming the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.
The implementation of the national rangeland project in the NCAs was put on hold after the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) objected to the fact that it would be implemented by the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU).
The objectives of the National Rangeland Strategy include improving farming through the sustainable management of grazing.
The Cabinet Committee on Trade and Economic Development, chaired by National Planning Commission Minister Tom Alweendo, introduced the initiative last year, under the leadership of the Director of Forestry, Joseph Hailwa.
Cabinet approved the initiative and mandated the NAU to implement it in both the commercial and communal farming areas. According to the NAU, the project is being implemented on their behalf by Agri-Ecological Services, and the implementation is going well.
However, NCA farmers say the project has been put on hold, because NNFU manages the area and they feel that the NAU is not operating in a transparent way.
They claim that the NAU is not disclosing how much money is involved in the project.
“The rangeland management project in NCA was put on hold because NAU farmers and NNFU farmers could not reach consensus.
“The initiative is for both title-deed (commercial farming) and non-title-deed areas, but the money has been requested by NAU.
“Non-title-deed areas are managed by NNFU and they requested the NAU to either give them a portion of the money to implement the project on their own or to work in partnership, but the NAU refused.
“The NAU also does not want to disclose how much money is involved in the project,” a source said.
According to Hailwa, they have received a report from the NAU that the project is already operational nationwide.
He said the initiative is a joint project, being implemented by the NAU in collaboration with other unions, such as the NFFU. The ministry has been supporting the coordination of the project since it started last year.
A secretariat was created that is administering the project.
The NAU requested money from the European Union, with the blessing of the government, Hailwa said.
Neither the NAU nor the NNFU responded to inquiries.
However, Namibian Sun has established that part of the project entails farmers being provided with grass seeds. Acting Permanent Secretary Abraham Nehemia denied an accusation by the NNFU that the ministry is using policies to disadvantage NCA farmers.
“The policies implemented by the ministry do not specify a purpose or intend to disadvantage farmers in the NCA… It is also important to point out that both the drought policy and the Meat Industry Act are currently being reviewed,” he said.
The ministry also confirmed that it is constructing a meat-processing plant at Ongwediva, to the tune of N$60 million, which will be operated by private sector.
The project is waiting for the land to be serviced, before construction can start.
The decision to construct meat-processing facilities was taken after a study on meat value chain development in the NCAs.
ILENI NANDJATO