Namibia country report

to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism for support in this regard, and was confidentthat he would be able to generate income from game, e.g. through commercial hunting. Theadvantage of keeping game was that it survived drought whereas other livestock died.4.4.2 The ‘cyclical’ trajectoryLivestock owner in a communal areaBuys a farm through the AALSFinds it difficult to keep up with AALS loan repayments, so decreases the number of livestockDefaults on repaying the loan, loses the farm and moves back to communal land, orconsiders selling the farm and moving back to communal landThe ‘cyclical’ trajectory reflects the history of AALS beneficiaries who started to farm andaccumulate livestock in the communal areas, bought a commercial farm under the AALS,found themselves in financial dire straits and thus sold either the whole farm or parts of itto service their debts. Those who sold the whole farm were likely to return to a communalarea.Access to communal land enabled communal farmers to accumulate enough livestock tobuy a commercial farm with an AALS loan. Two broad categories of communal livestockaccumulators can be identified. The first consists of farmers who were born in communalareas, started looking after livestock at an early age and never engaged in any waged labouror salaried job. Gifts from family members and a gradual acquisition of livestock enabledthem to build up a herd of their own. Many of the older AALS farmers in terms of both ageand farming period are in this category. The second category consists of people who mayor may not have been born in a communal area, but who followed a career and acquiredskills which they applied in urban areas. They used part of their income to buy livestockwhich they took to a communal area to be looked after by a trusted person, usually a familymember.Although a number of factors led AALS beneficiaries in both categories to purchase a farmof their own, two major factors in virtually every case were conflicts with other communalfarmers over grazing and natural resources, and a lack of control over their own livestock.The latter not only influenced their ability to apply proper herd management, but also led tohigh losses due to stock theft. In Omaheke there was a perception among AALS farmers thatfarmers in communal areas who had more than 200 large-stock units (LSU) had to buy afarm. Although one objective of the AALS is to encourage communal livestock owners withlarge herds to move out of the communal areas onto a commercial farm, there has neverbeen any formal or informal pressure on them to do so.Livelihoods Section after B ● 4. Land Affirmative Reform: Namibia Action Loan country Scheme report (AALS) (2010) ● 75