Erongo’s resettled farmers urged to plow back

Erongo governor Neville Andre believes resettlement farm beneficiaries have shown a lack of accountability and safeguarding of infrastructure due to an overdependence on government.

The governor's feedback followed an annual farm monitoring and evaluation exercise during which his team observed many challenges faced by farmers, including consecutive droughts.

Andre said in this respect, the agriculture and land reform ministry has assisted the affected beneficiaries with water and fencing infrastructure despite the current tough economic climate.

"We commend the ministry in this regard," he said.

"However, I am so concerned that we have observed an overdependence on government to ensure infrastructure rehabilitation and development, resulting in a lack of accountability by beneficiaries towards safeguarding of infrastructure," he added.

As a result, this has increased the list of farms awaiting water and infrastructure rehabilitation, the governor said.

He urged resettled farmers to take responsibility and accountability to reduce dependency on government assistance.



Key sector

Andre made these remarks at a farmers' day for resettlement farmers, which was held at Farm Kasandra in Omaruru last week.

It was held under the theme 'valuing best agricultural practices geared towards food security and self-reliance'.

The event was aimed at allowing organisations and resettled farmers to come together and share information with regard to land reform and agriculture.

Andre said agriculture remains a key driving force for economic development in Namibia.

He added that, at the moment, most inhabitants of the region rely directly or indirectly on agriculture as their main source of livelihood.

"We all know that land has more demand than in relation to supply; hence, the majority of the people still remain without resettlement."



A range of problems

Andre said through the annual farm monitoring and evaluation exercise, he identified numerous challenges faced by farmers in the Erongo Region, including fencing and water issues, illegal sub-leasing by beneficiaries, boundary disputes and non-compliance with lease conditions, such as defaulting on lease fees.

Other challenges included vandalism at newly-bought farms, trivial disputes amongst farmers, a lack of infrastructure maintenance by beneficiaries, poor rangeland management, and poor rainfall patterns.

He said it is evident that the Erongo Region experiences challenges that are unique to the region.

"The situation has also been worsened by the successive droughts we experienced in the region."



Another side of the coin

On the bright side, he said the exercise established that there are farmers who efficiently manage their farms, despite the many hurdles they face.

"The Erongo Region has thus collected an amount of N$106 210 in rental fees as of February 2023, which is a 99.5% return, out of the set target of N$106 785 to be collected from the 41 out of 58 farming units with lease agreements in the region."

He urged farmers to commit to the payment of their lease fees and partner with government in the rehabilitation and repair of water and fencing infrastructure.