Agriculture in Namibia is a key sector of the economy on which over 70 percent of the population directly depends on as a source of food, income, employment, and social stability.
As a socioeconomic pillar, it contributes about five percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and is the largest employer in the country.
The agriculture sector is primarily dominated by livestock production value chains, mainly cattle, sheep and goats. Moreover, other significant production value chains in the sector include those in crop, poultry, piggery, and charcoal production, among others.
Despite hostile conditions, Namibia’s agriculture sector has demonstrated considerable resilience over the years. For example, the sector has been hit by adverse disruptions resulting from recurrent droughts, the Covid-19 outbreak and general economic hard-ships affecting the globe.
This indicates that, despite its inherent weaknesses and threats, the Namibia livestock industry still strives to leverage its strengths and opportunities.
THE STRENGTHS:
One of the critical strengths emanates from the existing governance structures that support the industry across the entire value chain, from production to consumption. Namibia has a well-regulated livestock industry involving the Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform (MAFWLR) as the custodian for livestock disease control, and the Livestock and Live- stock Product Board (LLPB) as a regulatory institution supporting the industry through compliance measures to secure and participate in established markets. In addition, farmers unions and their associates play a critical role by being a producers’ mouthpiece and provide linkages to relevant services such as markets, inputs and information, among others. These structures enhance adherence to trade protocols and provide recognition on regional and international market platforms. The greater part of the country is classified as an FMD-free zone, carrying an export status. The disease control protocols and animal welfare practices in the country are in accordance with the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH). Hence, Namibia has access to high-value markets such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Norway. Furthermore, the country continues to diversify and expand its markets, for example, China, the Middle East, West Africa, and lately the Mauritius’ beef market.
Despite challenges emanating from climatic events, limited knowledge, technologies, and market complexities, the beef industry and farmers in general continue to display notable resilience. In particular, the beef industry continues to sustain and expand its export markets while competing with other major livestock producing countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, among others. Namibian rangeland types are ideally suited for livestock farming, particularly cattle production especially in the central and northern parts of the country. Thus, cattle are effectively raised mainly on the veld with minimal supplementation, under normal circumstances as opposed to costly feedlot systems in other countries. This free-range beef status is a critical selling point for Namibian beef. Furthermore, Namibia has well-established and improved livestock breeding programs where various breeds are utilized to improve beef attributes sought by the markets.
WEAKNESSES:
Generally, agriculture sector productivity is compromised or is not fully realized, especially in communal farming areas. This is
due to various limitations related to the lack of knowledge and skills, access to improved technologies, inputs, access to finance or credit and land, among others. As a result, this increases the vulnerability of some farmers to threats and challenges faced by the sector. Many farmers struggle or take longer to achieve optimal production and income levels, primarily due to high costs of production and limited expertise. For example, many communal and small scale farmers located in remote areas face difficulties in accessing information, production inputs and markets for their products, or they incur higher production costs, that ultimate limit productivity.
Moreover, access to productive land is another major limitation to the growth of agricultural production and livelihoods for communal farmers. Another weakness is the slow or poor implementation of supportive programs for farmers. For example, the execution of the drought relief initiatives is perceived to be slow and less impactful at the time of need, or the provision of cropping services tends to be slow or cause delays in the cropping calendar. In addition, the absence of robust drought recovery programs that target livestock restocking, input acquisition, and market access support could cripple productivity or lead to the abandonment of farming areas, fueling ruralurban migration.
OPPORTUNITIES:
Namibia is party to regional and international trade agreements, which place it at global market platforms to leverage for greater market
development and expansion. The country is a net exporter of beef to regional and international markets, earning significant income for the economy. Namibia is the only African country certified to export beef to the USA and EU, and it has maintained these lucrative markets over the years. To this end, the demand for our beef continues to increase. Recent examples include Germany expanding the distribution or the availability of Namibian beef in German steakhouses, and China’s interest in reaching about 20,000 tonnes per month of Namibian beef supply. One of the latest developments is the export of Namibian cattle to Mauritius, an opportunity emanating from the outbreak of the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in South Africa. This provides an opportunity to negotiate more long-term trade deals. Other market opportunities exist, such as the Middle East and West African countries, among others.
THREATS:
Generally, agricultural production is vulnerable to disruptions or shocks associated with climate, technology, markets, and politics, among others. Common events that compromise productivity in Namibia include the recurrent droughts, floods, land degradation, pests, and diseases. Land degradation is one major threat to sustainable production as large tracks of land in the country; especially communal areas have lost their productive capacity due factors such as overpopulation and overgrazing. The main forms of land degradation in the country are bush encroachment and soil erosion amongst others.
Furthermore, water scarcity is a common threat in the country, characterized by the high cost of water supply and salinity in various farming areas. In addition, the cost of electricity on farms contributes to higher costs of production and disruptions of certain farm operations such as on farm water supply. In recent years, Namibian cattle farmers have been battling with outbreaks of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD). However, the most significant threat to the meat industry is FMD, with progressive outbreaks in South Africa and Botswana. Should the FMD be detect- ed in the free zone, then the consequences would be devastating, resulting in major losses in production, markets and income at all levels.
In addition, the global tension or the war in the Middle East (Iran) is exacerbating the situation where the flow of oil and other agricultural supplies are disrupted. This situation has resulted in increase in prices especially for oil on which agricultural production is heavily dependent. Namibia has just increased fuel prices twice in two months, and it is affecting transportation and energy supply in the sector, thus, increasing the cost of production. And ultimately food prices amongst others.
In conclusion, the strengths and opportunities possessed by Namibia indicate that the country is striving to develop and sustain the industry, however, more still needs to be done to increase production and sustain growing markets. Critical efforts should strive towards reducing production costs by developing local input industries such as veterinary medicine and livestock feed production, as well as subsidizing essential farm inputs. Other areas of focus and improvement are rangeland restoration, farm water and electricity provision, production oriented land reform approaches, access to affordable finance, capacity building, and enhancing participation and linkages of farmers to local and export markets. These interventions require coordinated efforts from all stakeholders to eventually achieve organized agriculture and sustainability.
- Erastus Ngaruka is a technical advisor: livestock and rangeland at Agribank Namibia
