By Albertina Nakale
WINDHOEK – The overcrowding of communal land, which leads to a scarcity of grazing resources and environmental degradation, sparked the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement to embark on a massive programme of communal land development during the 2012/13 financial year.
But so far only four communal land areas could be expanded, while a total of eight farms were purchased for the programme totalling 49 993.0137 hectares (h) at a total cost of N$3 million.
These figures are contained in the annual report for the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement for the 2012/13 financial year tabled in parliament on Tuesday by the lands minister, Alpheus !Naruseb.
The report says the transfer of these farms was approved by Cabinet and four farms were gazetted on March 15 last year, while another four farms are still pending.
The four farms were acquired at a cost of N$25.3 million and allocated to traditional authorities.
During 2011 and 2012, the ministry acquired three commercial farms which were handed to the Hardap, //Karas and Khomas regional councils for developmental projects through the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development.
However, the report highlights challenges that compound land allocation or resettlement initiatives, which it says is mainly post-settlement support.
“The majority of key stakeholders as outlined in the National Resettlement Policy (2001) are not keen to resume full responsibility when it comes to the provision of post-settlement support to the settled communities,” the report indicates.
On the other hand, while this remains a daunting task, the report says the ministry has been trying to offer post-settlement support in collaboration with partners and sector ministries, although it remains a challenge mostly due to inadequate budgetary allocations.
Some of the other challenges facing land reform and resettlement, as highlighted in the report, are that there are too many activities being undertaken, poor record management, unskilled staff to address challenging assignments while recruitment of required staff is sluggish.
The report also reveals that government spent about N$22 million on the rehabilitation of water infrastructure on 36 resettlement farms.