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study sample also complained about the interest rate escalating over the 25-year paybackperiod, the current rates being too high and the grace period being too short. We thereforerecommend extending the grace period for full-time AALS farmers to five years, andlowering the escalating rate of interest thereafter.8.5 Livelihoods for farm workersThe point has been made in this report that all of the livelihood gains resulting from landredistribution have been achieved at the expense of farm workers who lost their employmentwhen the government bought the applicable commercial farms. In a very real sense, thisamounts to solving one problem by creating another. The plight of farm workers who losetheir employment as a result of land reform needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.In the past it was left to beneficiaries to deal with labourers on their land. This situation isclearly untenable and needs to be properly addressed at policy level. In dealing with thisissue, it will be necessary to test the assumption that all farm workers are keen to farm intheir own right, and are by definition better qualified than other applicants to do so. If thisis not the case, it will be necessary to determine forms of compensation for farm workersthat do not involve the allocation of a 1 000 ha unit of land.8.6 Integrating resettlement planning intoagricultural planningLand reform and resettlement policy should be a component of a broader policy on agriculturaland rural redevelopment. This would ensure not only the success of Namibia’s landreform programme, but also the continuing prosperity of its commercial agriculturalsector. Currently, the resettlement programme planning is characterised by the practiceof first allocating land to beneficiaries and then thinking about strategies to assist them.The implementation of policies and strategies is often lacking. Another need is to developplans for environmental reconstruction of degraded commercial and communal farmland.Therefore, greater emphasis should be placed on environmental and land reform policiesin order to provide for the rehabilitation of overgrazed and bush-encroached land that hasenvironmentally degraded the value of land. The groundwork for such reconstruction ofsuitable agricultural land can provide jobs for labourers as well as equip them with skillswhich they can use later to increase the agricultural production potential on resettlementfarms.Financial assistance in the form of an Environmental Investment Fund (as provided for inthe Environmental Investment Fund Act 13 of 2001) or the Land Reform Acquisition andDevelopment Fund (as provided for in the Agricultural Commercial Land Reform Act 6 of1995) should be given priority to help with the rehabilitation of degraded land. Obviously,land with a low carrying capacity cannot provide meaningful livelihood options for landreform beneficiaries.174 ● Livelihoods after land reform: Namibia country report (2010)
8.7 Building capacityDeveloping and strengthening capacity for informed decision-making by all stakeholdersshould be a priority. Group scheme managers on most of the existing projects do not havetechnical and managerial skills, the exception being the coordinator of the Skoonheid groupresettlement scheme. None of them have a background in agriculture. It is unclear whatcriteria the MLR applies when appointing project managers to resettlement projects, butthere are no apparent educational qualifications. It is recommended that project leaders beeducated in the social sciences or agricultural sciences, and that they be trained for the taskof managing a resettlement project.In addition, building the capacity of resettlement scheme beneficiaries by means of suitableskills training courses would greatly enhance efforts to develop the schemes efficiently. InHardap and Omaheke, resettlement farmers have expressed a need for practical trainingon technical issues, and some feel that they have inadequate management knowledge andskills. In response, established farmers have offered training in breeding, selection, animalhusbandry, infrastructure maintenance, supplementary feeding, rangeland managementand overcoming cash-flow problems, as is currently being provided under the EmergingCommercial Farmers Support Programme (ECFSP).Service providers, together with established farmers, should provide information, adviceand guidance to each prospective emerging farmer before he/she buys a farm in the area. Inaddition, appropriate skills training should be a prerequisite for every prospective AALS,FURS and group scheme beneficiary.Finally, any land reform planning and post-settlement training should incorporate aspectsof water resource management. Namibia’s aridity calls for a joint consideration and closeadjustment of land and water issues. In line with Namibia’s various National DevelopmentPlans and the provisions of the new Water Resource Management Act of 2004 and Waterand Sanitation Policy (2008), the land reform planning and capacity-building strategiesshould address the need for integrated land and water management. Since land and waterlinkages are an important issue in all activities relating to rural development and themanagement of natural resources, this issue deserves a stronger and more explicit emphasisin future land reform planning and capacity-building strategies.8.8 Improving co-ordinationBetter co-ordination of land reform planning is needed in Namibia. Regional land reform andresettlement planning is still undertaken mostly by central government, which often leads toa breakdown in communication or in the flow of information required for proper planning.Partnerships between government, the private sector and civil society at regional level couldeffectively ensure their co-responsibility and accountability for their regional resettlementprogrammes, and directly empower the resettlement beneficiaries to participate in planningand to manage their resources effectively.Livelihoods after Land Reform: Section Namibia B ● 8. country Policy Implications report (2010) ● 175
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© Land, Environment and Developmen
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Leading the Fieldis a publication o
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AcknowledgementsThe three-and-a-hal
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2 LAND REFORM ANDPOVERTY: NATIONALP
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Poverty in Omaheke.Poverty in Harda
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the concern was expressed that “i
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As will be discussed below, a numbe
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from Germany in 1907 (Werner forthc
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2.4 Land reform and rural developme
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The Agricultural (Commercial) Land
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Policy (RoN 1998: 1). What defined
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The determination of a viable unit
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Cabinet Minister who argued that th
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in Hardap criticised government for
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A farm in Hardap - enforcing privat
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The process from land acquisition t
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Herero traditional leaders ascribed
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Table 5: Institutions involved in l
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3 REGIONAL CONTEXTS3.1 HardapSpanni
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Namibia as a whole has declined ste
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Plowing for crop cultivation at Sko
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Bernard bought a farm through the A
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All of the AALS farmers surveyed in
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Marketing channels for weaners in O
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The tight financial position of som
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4.3 Typology of livelihood strategi
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he had about 600 in 2008. In additi
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The second stage of the ‘cyclical
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did not offer alternative land, but
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4.4.4 The ‘broekskeur en vasbyt
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in town is too fast and one is not
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Table 9: Age and gender distributio
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Figure 1: Education levels in FURS
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Only two beneficiaries in the whole
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5.1.3 Settlers’ relationship with
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stated that they would be able to f
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cows of all three farmers were serv
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Table 19: Gross incomes of FURS liv
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stock theft there. The closest poli
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5.2.5 MarketingTable 21 summarises
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the remainder of the year, goats ar
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5.2.7 SkillsAlthough many FURS bene
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The most common crops grown were ma
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5.5 Livelihood trajectoriesBased on
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Previously a part-time farmer in a
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of the allocated unit, but the numb
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e accommodated by the National Rese
Page 131 and 132: 6 GROUPRESETTLEMENTSCHEMESOfficiall
Page 134 and 135: Low levels of education further lim
Page 136: William did not really want to farm
Page 139 and 140: age, they decided that he had worke
Page 141 and 142: which was too far away to visit as
Page 144 and 145: Expenses for the group scheme farme
Page 146 and 147: phoned the MLR in Gobabis to send a
Page 148 and 149: they never learnt to save. They sho
Page 150 and 151: idea was to grow crops and sell the
Page 152: At Bernafey, 7 beneficiaries involv
Page 156 and 157: Housing at BernafeyHousing at Drimi
Page 158 and 159: 6.3.2 Other livelihood strategiesBe
Page 161 and 162: 6.3.2.3 Piece workWork on other far
Page 163 and 164: A shop at Drimiopsisshop as a livel
Page 165 and 166: When Alfons settled at Skoonheid in
Page 167 and 168: Farm workerLoses job / unemployedBe
Page 169 and 170: there. Instead, the MLRR advised hi
Page 171 and 172: the major issues identified in sect
Page 173 and 174: LaLR fieldwork at Bernafey.LaLR stu
Page 175 and 176: such external support was available
Page 177 and 178: formal lease agreement. Many people
Page 179: communal areas at minimal costs for
Page 184 and 185: The National Resettlement Policy pr
Page 186: REFERENCESAbrahams, K. 1982. “The
Page 189 and 190: Namibia Agricultural Union. 2003. A
Page 191 and 192: Livelihoods after Land Reform: Nami
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