Namibia country report

comparison of his livestock numbers in 1992 and 2008 shows that the ratio of goats tosheep had remained more or less the same, but the number of cattle was down virtually tozero. When he moved onto the farm with his family in 1992, he had 570 goats, 320 sheepand 65 head of cattle. At the time of this interview in early 2008, he had 414 goats, 251mixed sheep and just 4 head of cattle. He was about to purchase a few more head of cattlewith the aim of concentrating on cattle and goat farming, rains permitting.Kristof also explored agricultural production options other than livestock production. Hestarted growing vegetables, but this proved to be an intensive activity which he could notentrust to somebody else. As he could not be on the farm permanently, his crops failed, so hestopped this activity altogether. In view of the regular periods of drought, he had thoughtthat it might be feasible to farm with pigs in combination with growing vegetables, and hepurchased some pigs, but when he stopped growing vegetables, he had nothing to feed thepigs, and pig farming was not profitable if their feed had to be purchased, so he stoppedfarming with pigs.For Tobias in Hardap, goat farming was the most important agricultural activity. He alsohad some dorper sheep, acquired a few cattle and later cultivated a small vegetable gardenfor own consumption. He also intended turning one part of his farm into a wildlife area togenerate additional income. In his view, the advantage of farming with game was that gamesurvived drought whereas livestock died. He had applied to the Ministry of Environmentand Tourism to support him in this regard, and was confident that he would be able togenerate an income from game, e.g. through commercial hunting.Despite a general awareness of the advantages of farming with game, no AALS farmer in thesample had ventured into this line of production. The reasons for this may include the factthat farms have to conform to minimum standards for keeping wild animals, and mostAALS beneficiaries are unable to incur and sustain the costs of this conformation.Goat farming in Hardap.Livelihoods after Land Reform: Namibia country report (2010) ● 67