Namibia country report

Kristof cut short his schooling on account of political work. He was born in 1955 ona large commercial sheep farm where his parents worked. He attended the farm schooluntil Std 3, whereafter he went to school in Mariental. He did not complete Std 8 due tohis involvement in politics. He went on to receive some agricultural training in Windhoek.In 1975, still involved in politics, he took a job as a mine operator in Erongo Region. In 1979his parents encouraged him to obtain a right to farm in the communal area in the south. Heapplied to the Witbooi Tribal Authority and was given permission to farm in the Gibeon area.This enabled his parents to transfer small stock to that area from time to time. Initially hismother’s sister looked after the animals. In 1981 he left the mine’s employ with the intentionof leaving the country to join the armed struggle and further his studies, but this plan didnot materialise. Instead, he moved to the communal area where he remained permanentlyuntil 1992 when he bought his AALS farm. In the late 1990s he was elected to a regionalgovernment position which he holds to date.4.1.2 Motivation for buying a commercial farmThe majority of the AALS farmers in both Hardap and Omaheke stated that they appliedfor an AALS farm because they wanted to get out of the communal areas. The reason forthis was that their livestock herds had become too big, resulting in increased competitionwith other communal farmers’ herds for grazing, and related to this, they were not able toexercise any control over their livestock on communal land. Some interviewees applied foran AALS farm simply because of their passion for farming, and others did so because theywanted to be self-employed.Godfrey wanted to leave the Epukiro communal area because he felt that he had no controlover his livestock. Cattle walked unrestricted all over the communal lands, covering distancesof up to 40 km. He decided to buy a farm primarily to ensure that he had more controlover his livestock. Also, he was under the impression that any communal farmer with morethan 200 head of cattle had to leave the communal area and buy a farm under the AALS. Heexpected to receive additional subsidies and support from the government to enable him toestablish himself as a commercial farmer. This expectation stemmed from his knowledgethat before Independence, government supported white landowners until they were able tostand on their own feet. However, after buying the farm, no support was forthcoming eventhough he asked for it.Kristof also found farming in the communal area difficult. Due to the absence of fences,livestock owners were not able to control their livestock and stock losses were frequent.In addition, the quality of grazing was poor and most of the communal farmers did not havethe financial means to buy supplementary feed. But, having bought his commercial farm,he found that the quality of grazing there is also poor as the farm is “op die vloere” (on theplains) with brackish soils. Having discovered this problem, he began to think that farmersin the communal areas were better off than him because they were farming without debt.Like Kristof, many people were very optimistic when they bought an AALS farm, but soonrealised that they would have to cover all of the costs of maintenance, which is not the casefor communal farmers.60 ● Livelihoods after land reform: Namibia country report (2010)