Hanns Seidel Foundation Resident Representative, Clemens von Doderer, has called on Namibia to unlock the potential of its agricultural and forestry sectors to create rural employment and diversify the economy away from dependence on extractive industries.
Speaking at the Economic Association of Namibia’s (EAN) dialogue on “Jobless Growth,” von Doderer said Namibia’s next phase of economic expansion must be driven by rural-based value chains rather than urban-centred industries.
“Namibia has over 6.6 million hectares of forest. With strategic investment, these can support value chains in timber, processing, and biomass that create thousands of rural jobs,” he said.
He warned that the country’s urban-focused growth model continues to exclude large segments of the population from meaningful economic participation.
“We must look for low-hanging fruits that can yield jobs faster. Agriculture, forestry, and small-scale processing have the highest employment multipliers in rural Namibia,” von Doderer said.
He added that modernising agriculture through technology and smallholder partnerships could significantly improve productivity and value addition.
“Rural development is not only about farming. It is about building entire ecosystems, skills, logistics, markets, and finance that turn natural resources into sustainable livelihoods,” he said.
Von Doderer further cautioned that Namibia risks losing a generation of young people if it fails to prioritise artisanal and vocational skills training.
“We must prepare our people for a future where automation and artificial intelligence redefine work. Vocational trades will remain the backbone of employment in many sectors,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jealous Chirove, an Employment Specialist at the International Labour Organization (ILO), said job creation must become a deliberate outcome of Namibia’s economic planning rather than a by-product of growth.
He noted that the ILO is working with Namibia on its third National Employment Policy and conducting employment impact assessments in key sectors such as biomass, agriculture, and green hydrogen.
“Job creation needs to be an outcome — a deliberate outcome of what we do. It cannot just happen,” Chirove said.
Chirove stressed that employment must be mainstreamed into industrial, agricultural, and tourism policies to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth.
