Namibia country report

farming as their main source of household income in 2001, compared to 61% for whomwages or salaries were the main source (ibid.).Economic data disaggregated by region does not exist in Namibia. It is therefore not possibleto say what the relative economic contributions of different sectors to the regional economyare. A brief description of Hardap in the Second National Development Plan (NDP2) states:[The Hardap] economy is essentially driven by a large non-tradable sector supported byservicing and production sectors. Trade and industry activities are largely concentratedin the agricultural sector, mainly small-stock (RoN n.d. [2001]: 40).Extensive livestock farming is the main land-based economic activity in Hardap, and thereis also limited crop production. Mendelsohn et al. (2002: 147) estimated that approximately4 000 ha of land had been cleared for crop production. It is not clear how much of thisland was under cultivation at the time of this LaLR study, and how much is irrigation land.About 2 000 ha are being irrigated at Hardap Dam, by water from the dam. Further east,just over 600 ha are being irrigated in the Auob-Stampriet area which has rich artesianwater (NWRMR 2000: 11; Lange et al. 1997: 33).Since the late 1980s, an increasing number of commercial farmers have diversified out ofagriculture into commercial hunting and tourism. Among the factors that contributed to thiswas the collapse of the international market for karakul pelts, which massively curtailed thepreviously lucrative commercial activity of karakul pelt production in southern Namibia.Some farmers replaced karakul farming with mutton production by raising dorper sheepand goats instead of karakul sheep. In 2002, dorper sheep and goats outnumbered karakulby 4 to 1. The change from karakul pelt to mutton production had serious environmentaland economic ramifications for the farming sector in the south. Grazing practices and needsof sheep bred for meat differed markedly from those of karakul. The intake of pasturage ofsheep bred for meat is generally greater than that of karakul (Mendelsohn 2006: 54). Manyexisting farms became too small to accommodate enough ‘mutton sheep’ to compensate forthe loss of revenue resulting from the collapse of the pelt market. The economic impactof this transformation has not been documented, but it was devastating for the applicablefarmers, many of whom reportedly went bankrupt. The negative economic effects of thisagricultural transformation may also explain why the MLRR found ready sellers of land inboth Maltahöhe and Mariental Districts in the early 1990s.Despite agriculture being the main economic sector in Hardap, in 2002 it employed onlyabout 31% of the 18 364 people employed in the region, compared to nearly 50% employed bythe private/public sectors (NPC 2006b: 23). Evidence suggests that agricultural employmentopportunities are decreasing rapidly. Regular surveys on agricultural wages conductedby the Agricultural Employers’ Association 11 have shown that agricultural employment in11The sample for these surveys is drawn from members of the Namibia Agricultural Union which representsapproximately 50% of all commercial farmers. The picture that these surveys paint must be regardedas more positive than the average situation, as those volunteering information are probably among thebetter-off commercial farmers.52 ● Livelihoods after land reform: Namibia country report (2010)