By:Nghiinomenwa-vali Erastus
POOR coordination and communication between the government and development agencies is one of the factors hampering effective implementation of policies and programs to improve food security in Namibia.
A recent assessment report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), SADC, and the European Union revealed that Namibia has a lot of projects being implemented in the agricultural sector by various stakeholders.
But due to lack of planning, communication and coordination, such projects have little impact on the sector.
This assessment launched last week is the first of its kind performed to review Namibia’s agricultural sector.
The country is currently facing food insecurity as it continues importing seeds and exporting live animals.
Namibia also buys pork from Europe and struggles to leverage the agricultural sector to reduce poverty and facilitate agr-processing.
In terms of agricultural imports the report states that “such huge volumes of imports can be brought down if Namibia’s agriculture sector improves its performance such that the country becomes self-sustaining with some commodities”.
Although a number of initiatives to improve this situation are in place, implementation remains the problem.
“There is evidence of processes and good initiatives that have stayed unimplemented for a long time due to this limitation within the sector,” the report revealed.
Agricultural researcher, Thinah Moyo, who conducted the assessment says there is also a problem of lack of a cetranlised data system in agriculture with only few activities documented.
There is also a challenge with policy formulation, Moyo said.
The data available, Moyo said, is scattered all over due to the unavailability of a centralized data portal, he added.
He said, “the institutions are working in silos. While policies and regulations may be clear in theory, institutions tend to operate in silos”.
The report has also found that there is a lack of coherent policy.
The researcher, called for a need to harmonize the formulation of policies with the line ministries and agencies.
The agricultural sector legal and policy frameworks among sectors is managed by different line ministries.
The assessment has revealed that “there is still a lack of coherence in the implementation of these policies which often results in duplication of effort”.
Since 2010 Namibia’s economic growth has fallen far short of attaining the target during the period under consideration.
The SADC economic growth target to reduce poverty is set at 7% annual growth.
However, Namibia’s economic growth has never reached such a level since 2010, it came closer once in 2010 and 2016, attaining 6% and 6.1% growth respectively, after a spiral of low growth.
For reasonable poverty reduction, “SADC requires that each country achieves 7% GDP growth per annum”.
The review has also revealed that sector and sub-sector working groups have existed since the NDP3 era.
As they were perceived to be effective means for non-state actors to participate in decision-making, leading to more effective and efficient agriculture development
Despite this the report has indicated that there are still significant gaps such as limited ability to obtain and combine data and information on national-level indicators.
Currently, the ministry and other actors in the industry lack suitable methods for collectively acquiring, compiling, and actively sharing data and information, the researcher found.
There are around 8 number of policies affect land and agriculture in general in Namibia
Namibia Agriculture Policy (NAP); Agriculture Marketing and Trade Policy Strategy; Green Scheme Policy; National Policy on Subdivision and Consolidation of Agricultural Land; National Drought Policy and Strategy; Namibian Horticulture Market Share Promotion (MSP) Scheme; Agricultural Bank of Namibia Act (Act No. 5 of 2003)
Plus, the Harambee Prosperity Plans (HPP) I and II which has also prioritised giving the private sector more prominence in the agricultural sector.
In terms of performances, from 2015, to 2021 on the Average yield of selected cereal crops in Namibia and the SADC target to 2000 kg/ha target.
However, it has never been adequate for domestic demand, with the country depending more on imports for cereals grains- so far for the latest in 2023, the production has been so low.
In terms of fertiliser utilisation- Namibia’s fertiliser use fell below the SADC target of 65kg/ha with an average 63.9kg/ha.
The report has indicated that Namibia has the potential to reach the SADC target of fertiliser use, “which would partly contribute to the envisaged improved cereal crop yields in maize and Mahangu”.
Agricultural spending and the 10% national expenditure target at the SADC have only reached twice since 2010.
Furthermore, the assessment has also raised a key question is whether the public expenditure on agriculture is leading to agricultural growth and productivity improvements.
Another weakness of Namibia’s efforts towards agricultural research and development as a catalyst for overall sectoral growth is expenditures on agricultural research.
The Malabo Declaration set a goal that African Union member states should invest at least one percent of their agricultural GDP in agricultural research and development.
“Namibia’s levels of investment are far from reaching the target, although the investment level increased between 2020 and 2022, found the assessment.
Since 2015, agricultural research and development spending as a share of agricultural GDP in Namibia has never reached even 0.4% despite the SADC 1% target.
The sector remains the engine of the economy due to its nature of creating a source of income, food security, foreign earnings and provision of raw materials to the manufacturing industry.
It contributed an average of 7.9% to GDP over the last ten years.
Contribution fluctuates from year to year (droughts, floods, wild animal conflicts, and pests as well as capital constraints). Email: erastus@thevillager.com.na