The government has disbursed N$101,017,803 to 23,203 farmers under the Livestock Marketing Incentive Programme, according to figures released by the Office of the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare said a total of 25,422 claims have been submitted since October 2023, with outstanding claims valued at N$8,782,129 still under processing.
The subsidy programme is funded through the National Emergency Disaster Fund and includes payouts for livestock sales, grazing leases, fodder, licks, and transport.
The total value of claims submitted so far stands at N$109,799,932.
“The Ministry receives subsidy applications through its extension offices, validates them, and sends them to the Windhoek head office. Once documents are in order, our office processes payments within three to four weeks,” Ngurare told the National Assembly.
The government allocated N$100 million to the drought relief programme for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 financial years.
Under the scheme, eligible farmers can receive up to N$750 per head of cattle for a maximum of 75 cattle, and N$150 per small stock unit for up to 375 animals. The maximum subsidy per farmer is capped at N$56,250.
“This programme is a collaboration between the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Agriculture, which manages the technical side. Our role is payment once claims are properly verified,” said Ngurare.
Delays in payment beyond the three- to four-week target are attributed to incomplete or incorrect submissions. These are returned to regional offices for correction before being resubmitted for final validation in Windhoek.
“To address the delays, we’ve brought in 16 additional accountants from the Prime Minister’s Finance Division who work overtime to support the core team of six at the Directorate,” Ngurare said during the session.
That core team consists of two accountants, two senior accountants, one chief accountant, and a deputy director, all responsible for processing subsidy claims and other emergency finance functions such as food provision payments.
“We’ve also requested approval to recruit temporary support staff, including recent graduates and interns, to assist in speeding up the claim processing workload,” said Ngurare.
He said the Office of the Prime Minister is optimistic that the Public Service Commission will approve the proposal, which is also intended to create short-term employment opportunities for young Namibians.
