Namibia country report

Namibia as a whole has declined steadily since 1998. From 2002 to 2004 alone, it declinedby 39% overall. Significantly, the highest decline of 80% was in the category of temporaryemployment (Agricultural Employers’ Association 2004: 7). In the absence of regionallydisaggregated data, it has to be assumed that Hardap was no exception vis-à-vis the downwardtrend in agricultural employment. The decline of karakul farming has certainlycontributed to the gradual decline in temporary employment opportunities in this region(NPC 2006b: 58).General insecurity among commercial farmers was cited as the main reason for farmers’reluctance to fill vacancies on their farms. “Militant labour unrest”, “unrealistic demands”made by the Namibian Farm Workers’ Union, minimum wages and land tax were some ofthe specific reasons cited (ibid.).In addition to receiving cash wages and remuneration in kind, some farm workers havebeen permitted to keep a limited number of livestock on commercial farms. The Wage Surveyof 2004 suggests that 29% of permanent farm workers kept livestock on commercial farmswhere they worked. On average they kept 23 small stock, 5 large stock and 3 horses/mules/donkeys (Agricultural Employers’ Association 2004: 17). One respondent in this LaLR surveystated that workers on the farm Haribes were allowed to keep a maximum of 25 goats atcattle posts. Goats in excess of this limit either had to be sold or taken to the communalarea to be looked after by relatives (see also NPC 2006a: 77). Alternatively, people appliedfor resettlement, as is discussed below.The very first farms acquired by government after Independence were in Hardap Region.It is not entirely clear why this was so, but it seems reasonable to assume that the financialsituation of many farmers made more land available in the southern regions (Hardap andKaras) than elsewhere in the country.3.1.1 Land redistributionBy August 2007, the MLR had purchased 28 farms or portions of farms totalling 164 972 hain Hardap (MLR to LAC, 13.8.2007). If it is assumed that 75% (8.2 million ha) of the region’stotal area is utilised for commercial farming, this represents 2% of all freehold farmland inthe region. The MLR claims to have settled 155 families on this freehold land, giving eachfamily an average of 1 064 ha. This average stands in contrast to the finding of the PTT thatbeneficiaries in the south were allocated 2 138 ha on average, and is substantially less thanthe recommendation of the LRAC that land allocations in the southern regions should notbe smaller than 3 000 ha per beneficiary household (PTT 2005b: 52). It is not possible fromthe current survey to calculate the average allocation per beneficiary, as many beneficiariesdid not know how much land they were allocated.Twenty per cent of FURS beneficiaries interviewed in the current survey were farming on apart-time basis. Forty-five per cent of these had kept livestock on a commercial farm beforemoving onto resettlement land, while 25% had previously farmed on communal land.Livelihoods after Land Reform: Section Namibia A ● 3. country Regional report Contexts (2010) ● 53