Namibia country report

4.4.3 The ‘part-time’ trajectoryLivestock owner in a communal areaBuys a farm through the AALSEngages in off-farm employment (full time or part time) to support farming activitiesRetires/resigns (or aspires to retiring/resigning) to become a full-time AALS farmerThe ‘part-time’ trajectory is identical to both the ‘ideal’ and ‘cyclical’ trajectories in so faras the first two stages involve moving from communal farming to commercial farmingunder the AALS.The third stage of the ‘part-time’ trajectory differs from the previous two in that most ofthe farmers are in full-time employment (in either the government or the private sector)and use a portion of their income to support their part-time farming activities. A few arefull-time farmers who have taken up part-time off-farm employment to supplement theirfarming income. All of the latter interviewed in the survey stated that they would not havebeen able to farm on a permanent basis without earning income “outside” their farmingactivities.In the fourth and final stage of the ‘part-time’ trajectory, the farmer has repaid the AALSloan in full, and now intends to farm full time. In some instances the repayment in fullcoincides with the farmer either having reached the official retirement age of 60 years orhaving decided to resign or retire from his/her ‘city job’ or ‘city life’.Born in 1960, Elizabeth was raised in Aminuis in Omaheke. She left Namibia at 18 years ofage to pursue a B.Sc. in Chemistry in Brooklyn, New York. After spending seven years in theUnited States, she returned to Namibia to take up employment as a chemist at a mine whereshe worked for five years. She then moved to Windhoek where she worked as a hydrologistin a government department for six years. Since 1998 she has worked for a parastatal as asenior scientist.Elizabeth considered herself a “weekend farmer”, returning to her farm every two weeks. Awidow, she has four children. At the time of the survey the youngest was 19 and the oldest28 years of age. During her absence from the farm, her brother managed the farm and livedthere with his wife and two children.Elizabeth and her late husband bought some livestock in 1986. From 1992 until 1999 theyleased land on a government farm. They were told in 1999 that they were no longer allowedto stay there because the military used the area for training soldiers. The Ministry of LandsLivelihoods Section after B ● 4. Land Affirmative Reform: Namibia Action Loan country Scheme report (AALS) (2010) ● 77