Namibia country report

Expenses for the group scheme farmers in Hardap varied significantly. Bernafey’s greatestexpense was the transportation and marketing of the citrus and other crops. The farmersat Westfalen made use of a government vehicle to transport their produce to Windhoek’sinformal market. Westfalen received seed, fertiliser and herbicide from government-appointedconsultants who visited the project regularly. Bernafey received only some vegetable seedand fewer visits from the government-appointed consultants. The types of seed provided toBernafey varied with no consideration of planting dates and the needs of the market.On both schemes in Hardap, labour was the main (perpetual) expense, with family labourused for horticultural production. Additional family labour was used at harvesting timesand remunerated in cash or in kind. Wages were paid from the group bank account until theaccount was exhausted. Monthly wages ranged from N$300 to N$500, depending on thebeneficiary’s labour input. This did not compare favourably with the minimum agriculturalwage of N$429 per month paid to farm workers. Water and electricity were mostly free ofcharge as electricity was paid by government.There were no records and thus no data on the amounts of crops sold by the projects as awhole and/or individual families in both Hardap and Omaheke.Backyard garden, Drimiopsis.Individual gardens, Drimiopsis.Communal gardening, Bernafey.Garden produce, Bernafey.136 ● Livelihoods after land reform: Namibia country report (2010)