Khomas Regional Governor Laura Mcleod-Katjirua says five farms need to be acquired annually within the national budget to reach a total of 50 farms to alleviate the strain on land demand in the region.
The Governor noted that the region faces a severe shortage of expansion land due to rapid population growth and urban migration.
This comes as only 14 farms have been acquired since independence attributed to the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform struggling to meet the increasing demand for land allocation.
“Since independence, the Ministry has acquired only 18 farms of which four farms are transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Land. This number is insignificant to the population expansion of the Khomas Region meaning the Ministry has purchased only 14 farms according to the Commercial Land Reform Act since independence,” Mcleod-Katjirua said.
She said the Khomas Region, which lacks a communal area, holds the country’s largest population of 494,605, driven by migration to urban areas for social and economic opportunities.
“The shortage of land in the region is critical, evident and can be justified by the alarming number of people farming in urban areas (boundaries of the city), the overcrowded limited grazing areas of Satanslaught, Mix settlement, Baumgartsbrunn and the daily dumped generational farm workers in the various corridors of our vast Khomas region,” she said.
The Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, Carl Schlettwein, addressed ongoing challenges in land reform efforts, emphasising financial constraints and issues with existing support schemes.
“It’s tough. With more people to resettle, limited funds, and high farm prices, effective land reform becomes increasingly difficult,” the Minister noted.
Schlettwein also pointed out shortcomings in the affirmative action loan scheme, highlighting how many farmers struggled to repay loans due to financial pressures.
Despite efforts to review and improve the scheme, the Minister expressed concerns over funding limitations and lack of influence over relevant institutions.
During the year under review, the Ministry acquired a total number of 12 farms measuring 58,868.9615 hectares for N$101 million, which was allocated to 23 beneficiaries.
Furthermore, the Ministry acquired four farms measuring 19,137.5938 hectares for N$18 million for the Neckartal Dam Irrigation Project.
The Minister highlighted the significant population growth in Namibia, which has surged to about 3.03 million, more than doubling since independence in 1990.
He said this rapid increase, with a growth rate of approximately 27%, poses considerable pressure on resources within the Ministry’s jurisdiction.
“The population growth puts pressure on all the resources under the jurisdiction of our Ministry, and we must ready ourselves to embrace this pressure. Going in the future will be more difficult, not easier, since the resources, whether land for agriculture or water, have not grown,” the Minister cautioned.
