Namibia country report

stated that they would be able to farm more effectively on more land. These findings suggestthat many beneficiaries in Omaheke did not regard the allocated land units as big enough.5.2.2 Livestock farmingFURS beneficiaries commonly owned both cattle and small stock. In Omaheke, most ownedcattle and/or goats in varying numbers. In Hardap, 7 of the 20 FURS farmers owned cattle,10 owned sheep and 13 owned goats. In both regions there were beneficiaries who did notown any livestock, i.e. 25% of the sample in Omaheke, but only one in Hardap. The lattersaid that all his livestock had been stolen, therefore he was working in town again. As therequirements for resettlement included that beneficiaries had to own some livestock, it canbe assumed that all of them did have livestock before settling, but some had lost it due tostock theft or drought, or they had sold it.Only one livestock owner in Omaheke and one in Hardap did not sell any livestock. Table 15reflects the livestock ownership situation in both regions. The survey respondents wereasked to provide data on their livestock for the 365 days preceding the day of the interview.For Hardap this meant the period March 2007 to February 2008, and for Omaheke it wasMarch 2008 to February 2009.Table 15: Livestock ownership on FURS farms in Omaheke and Hardap, 2007/08Omaheke HardapNumber of beneficiaries in the sample 12 20Owned cattle 7 7Owned sheep 2 10Owned goats 9 13Number of beneficiaries owning no livestock 3 1Livestock owners who did not sell any livestock by choice 1 1Beneficiaries with 1 000 ha in Omaheke could stock the farm with about 66 LSU or 200 SSUor a combination of large and small stock. Beneficiaries in Hardap could stock a 3 000 hafarm with 120 LSU or 600 SSU or a combination. The differing agro-ecological conditionsinfluenced the carrying capacities in each region. Table 16 reflects the types and numbersof livestock owned by the 9 livestock owners in Omaheke. Only 7 owned cattle, of whom 4had a viable herd (42 to 78 animals), while 3 had fewer than 10 cows and some calves.Table 16: Livestock ownership on FURS farms in Omaheke, 2008Calves Bulls Heifers Cows Goats SheepFarmer 1 1 4 2 6Farmer 2 3 6 4 25Farmer 3 4 1 8 12Farmer 4 9 1 2 30 20Farmer 5 11 1 3 37 25Farmer 6 15 1 6 39 28Farmer 7 20 2 9 47 42Farmer 8 47Farmer 9 68Total 63 6 20 171 248 31Livelihoods Section after B ● Land 5. Farm Reform: Unit Resettlement Namibia country Scheme report (FURS) (2010) ● 95