Namibia country report

All of the AALS farmers surveyed in the two regions employed animal husbandry practicesas recommended for commercial production: bulls were purchased and used during fixedbreeding seasons; a weaning system was used to ensure that females had sufficient timeto recuperate for their next offspring; fences were maintained and erected; and rotationalgrazing was practised. However, the fact that part-time farmers were not permanently ontheir farm came at the cost of less control over and less-effective management of theirfarming operations. Full-time farmers’ animal husbandry practices were better than thoseof their part-time counterparts due to their permanent presence.In Omaheke, cattle herd sizes ranged from 80 to 270 head. The herd of 80 belonged to a fulltimefarmer who was struggling to enlarge the herd as he had to sell cows (i.e. females,not bulls) regularly to repay his Agribank loan. The other full-time and part-time farmerssampled in both regions had in excess of 200 cows per herd and were increasing their herdsizes continuously. All of them had purchased bulls in the preceding year to introduce newgenetic lines.However, it appears that full-time and part-time farmers’ capacities to acquire livestockdiffer markedly. Due to their off-farm income stream, part-time farmers are able to purchasemore livestock and spend more on bulls than full-time farmers. The average initial investmentof part-time farmers amounted to N$375 000 for 12 bulls, 10 heifers, 38 cows and 24 goats. Forone bull, part-time farmers paid prices ranging from N$10 000 to N$20 000, compared to arange of N$4 000 to N$5 000 paid by full-time farmers. The latter, however, did not havesufficient funds to increase their herds with purchases of cows and heifers. Only two newcows in total were purchased by the full-time farmers sampled.Part-time farmers used their own financial resources and/or borrowed funds from relativesto purchase livestock. They also used income from the sale of their livestock (i.e. small stock).Their approach appears to have differed slightly to that of full-time farmers in that theysold females which did not produce a calf each year, thereby maximising productivity andincreasing herd fertility. Full-time farmers gave their unproductive cows a second chance,keeping them longer. Part-time farmers had high turnovers of sales and purchases. Thesefactors enabled part-time farmers to increase their herds at a faster rate than the annualnatural growth rate.A striking feature of livestock production in Omaheke was that all the AALS farmers had aweaner production system, meaning that they sold their weaners and did not keep any forproducing slaughter-grade oxen. The main reason for this was cash-flow constraints due tohaving to pay back a hefty Agribank loan. The weaner production system enables farmersto sell calves as soon as they are weaned rather than only three years later. This system ispreferable especially for full-time farmers who do not have access to off-farm income.As a full-time farmer, being able to increase his cash flow quickly was Godfrey’s main reasonfor producing weaners rather than oxen. He could sell weaners faster than oxen which takelonger to reach a marketable age and are more expensive to raise. In terms of profitability,it is preferable to produce oxen, but cash-flow needs forced Godfrey to go on with weaners.64 ● Livelihoods after land reform: Namibia country report (2010)