Overgrazing, bad management hamper livestock farming

The Ministry of Agriculture has identified several barriers that are preventing the livestock farming sector from contributing more to the economy. This was said yesterday when the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Lempy Lucas, released the Community-Based Rangeland and Livestock Management (CBRLM) Water Report on behalf of Minister John Mutorwa. Lucas said based on 2011 estimates by the Directorate of Veterinary Services there are about 2.8 million cattle in the country. The majority, about 1.6 million, are in the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) and the other 1.2 million in the commercial farming areas south of the Veterinary Cordon Fence. Livestock account for about 76% of the total agricultural contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But, disappointingly, only 6% of this contribution comes from the communal areas. “The 6% contribution to GDP can largely be explained by the low off-take rate in the NCAs of only 3.7% compared to 25% in the southern regions,” Lucas said. She added that the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP4) aims to achieve an average real agricultural growth of 4% annually. This can only be achieved through development efforts, such as removing barriers to the livestock trade in the NCA’s in order to increase their off-take rate, which has the potential to contribute about N$64 million to the GDP per year, said Lucas. She said that in addition to removing the barriers to the livestock trade, there are other challenges in the agriculture sector that require urgent attention. This included a reduction in the productivity of natural grazing rangelands, as a result overgrazing or inappropriate management practices. “This in turn leads to bush encroachment, as land that was inhabited by good perennial grasses becomes encroached by an invader or unwanted bush. Bush encroachment has resulted in a decline in the carrying capacity of the rangeland and some farmers responded by shifting to game farming, as the land became unsuitable for livestock production.” She said that another challenge is the land ownership system in Namibia. The deputy minister said communal areas are overpopulated, overgrazed and largely underdeveloped. Recurring droughts also remained a worrying factor. According to the report the very high density of livestock in the densely populated NCA areas is due to the concentration of people in these areas and not due to people owning more livestock. The report says that cattle are the most valued animals in the NCAs, but not all households own cattle. The average number of livestock per household is lower in the most densely populated areas and the average number of livestock per family drops to five from 10 to 15 in the most sparsely populated households. This is mainly due to the shortage of grazing in densely populated areas. Over half of the households in the area do not own any cattle, while the average number of cattle per household is 6. In Kunene for instance 39% of households have herds bigger than 29 cattle and these households own more than 80% of all cattle. In contrast the report says that in the Kavango, less than 10% of households own herds that are greater than 29 animals, and these households only account for 11% of the cattle population.