Context
With independence on 21 March 1990, the Government of the Republic of Namibia inherited an asymmetrical system of land distribution defined along racial lines. In addition to unfairly distributed land entitlements, Namibia also featured a sharp contrast in land governance between commercially utilised land in the central and southern regions, and communal land in the north of the country (Northern Communal Areas, NCA). Land and land reform remain highly prominent political and social topics and are considered decisive for the socio-economic development of the country.
Through the Ministry of Land Reform (MLR), the Government of the Republic of Namibia embarked on the implementation of different land reform programmes covering both, commercial as well as communal areas. The commercial land reform, for example, envisages the redistribution of at least 15 million hectares of commercial farmland to previously disadvantaged citizens by 2020.
Under the National Resettlement Programme (NRP), MLR buys farms in accordance with the willing-buyer-willing-seller principle and divides them into smaller parcels onto which landless Namibians are settled. Through the Affirmative Action Loan Scheme (AALS), the Agribank of Namibia provides subsidised loans for the purchase of farms by formerly disadvantaged Namibians. By early 2017 approximately 9 million hectares or 62 per cent of the intended 15 million hectares of commercial farmland were distributed to landless and previously disadvantaged persons in a peaceful and constitutional manner.
The main objective of the aforementioned initiatives by the Namibian Government is to bring about more equitable land distribution and access to land, to promote sustainable economic growth, to lower income inequalities and to reduce rural poverty. Albeit availability of land and tenure security constitute key requisites for inclusive development, strong technical farming skills and knowledge as well as a sound understanding of agricultural markets are important complements to effectively make use of allocated land and to sustainably reduce poverty.
Although many of the new land users have an agricultural background as communal farmers or as farm workers, capacity development is needed in commercially-driven farm management and in the adoption of market-orientated modes of production. Only once resettled farmers operate profitably and produce agricultural products that meet market requirements will rural income and livelihoods improve sustainably.
Objective
The land resources secured as part of the land reform are used more economically and sustainably.
Approach
The project follows a three-level approach that, firstly, consists of policy and strategy advice aiming at improving the framework conditions for the provision of effective, suitable and targeted support services to resettlement farmers. The second component seeks to strengthen the impact of service provision through further developing the capacities of technical extension officers, particularly in organisational development, farming as a business and market-orientation and to create need-oriented, responsive and cost-effective support services. The third component aims to increase access and use of agricultural advisory services by farmers, focussing in particular on access to information relevant to the agricultural sector through digital solutions, platforms and the production of new training materials on innovative subjects.