Veterinary services, agricultural research face millions in budget cuts

Veterinary Services and agricultural research are among the programmes facing significant funding cuts in 2026/27, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform warning that lower allocations will affect livestock disease surveillance and experimental research.The reductions come as the ministry targets 30 500 cereal producers for subsidised inputs, down from 33 886 in the previous financial year.Romeo Muyunda, the ministry's deputy director of public relations and information services, outlined the implications in response to an earlier report on a 26% cut to its overall Vote 37 budget to N$1.83 billion.While the ministry says extension services and mechanised tillage support will continue, its figures show that the cuts will affect agricultural programmes differently.Muyunda said the Veterinary Services allocation would decrease from N$450.38 million in 2025/26 to N$355.81 million in 2026/27.The operational budget will fall from N$302.86 million to N$248.16 million, while the development allocation will decrease from N$147.52 million to N$107.64 million.He said the reduction would affect livestock disease surveillance and responses to farmers' queries about animal diseases.However, the ministry's response does not specify how individual surveillance activities or response times would be affected.Research, training lose outFunding for agricultural research and training will decrease from N$183.51 million in 2025/26 to N$127.15 million in 2026/27, Muyunda said.The operational budget will be reduced from N$118.51 million to N$97.82 million, while the development allocation will fall from N$65 million to N$29.33 million.He said the lower allocation would reduce research capacity and the number of experimental research activities. Renovations and rehabilitation of research stations are also expected to take longer.The cuts will therefore affect both research activities and planned improvements to research facilities.The allocation for subsidised seeds, fertiliser, pesticides and mechanised tillage services will decrease from N$34.24 million in 2025/26 to N$26.60 million in 2026/27, Muyunda said.During the previous financial year, 33 886 cereal producers benefited from subsidised inputs, including 14 662 men and 19 224 women.For the 2026/27 cropping season, the ministry has set a target of 30 500 beneficiaries – a reduction of 3 386 farmers.Muyunda said the regional budget allocations had also been reduced, resulting in fewer farmers being able to benefit from subsidised inputs and support services.Mechanised tillage services include ploughing, ripping, planting and weeding. A total of 15,597 cereal producers benefited from these services in 2025/26, comprising 7,689 men and 7,908 women.Despite the lower budget, the ministry has set a target of 26,000 beneficiaries for mechanised tillage services in 2026/27. Muyunda said the reduced allocation would not affect the provision of these services.Extension servicesMuyunda said funding for agricultural production and extension services would not change significantly when the previous year's allocation to the Namibia Agricultural Bank (Agribank) was taken into account.The 2025/26 allocation was N$525.49 million, including N$280 million earmarked for Agribank's Affirmative Action Loan Scheme. Excluding that amount leaves N$245.49 million for agricultural production and extension services.For 2026/27, the allocation is N$253.15 million, an increase of 3.12% on the adjusted previous-year figure.“ Hence, there is no significant change in budget allocation to affect service delivery,” Muyunda said.The ministry also expects the number of technical staff to increase from 245 in 2025/26 to 250 in 2026/27, while the number of farmers receiving advice is targeted to rise from 116,238 to 120,000.Of the farmers advised in 2025/26, 59,957 were men and 56,281 were women.Support was provided through training, demonstrations, field days, information days, exposure visits, visits to agricultural development centres, farm visits and community meetings.“There are no extension programmes or activities that have been reduced, postponed or cancelled,” Muyunda said.Muyunda said the ministry had requested additional funding to expand agricultural programmes and improve production and productivity.The ministry's response points to differing prospects across agricultural services in 2026/27. While extension services and mechanised tillage support are expected to continue, lower allocations are expected to affect livestock disease surveillance, research activities and the number of farmers targeted for subsidised inputs.The response does not detail the full operational consequences of the cuts, but identifies the areas in which the ministry expects the reductions to be felt.

Veterinary services, agricultural research face millions in budget cuts

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Republikein 2026-10-15

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Veterinary services, agricultural research face millions in budget cuts

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