Namibia’s land reform programme is considered slow and ineffective. New Era’s Catherine Sasman looks at the Namibia Farm Workers Union land conference held over the weekend. WINDHOEK Amidst calls from all corners of the political divide to return to the drawing board on the land reform issue, the Namibia Farm Workers Union recently concluded its land conference, entitled ‘Give the Land Back to the People’. This was possibly the first broad-based platform that has dealt exclusively with the land issue since the seminal National Land Conference in 1991 that resulted in the development of policies and legislation to direct the land reform programme adopted by the Government of Namibia. The Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act of 1995 was enacted to give the State the preferential right to acquire or purchase commercial agricultural land through the willing-buyer/willing-seller principle to be distributed to previously disadvantaged landless Namibians. The Act makes further provision for the government to expropriate farmland “in the public interest with a payment of a fair compensation”. In 1988, the National Assembly passed the National Land Policy as a guideline for implementing land reform. The National Resettlement Policy has also since been enacted with the aim of enhancing the welfare of the people by providing access to productive land and other resources and services. In 2002, the Communal Land Reform Act was enacted to guide the administration and allocation of communal land by traditional authorities. Land boards have been established and are functional in 12 of the 13 regions of the country. A land tax was further introduced in 2004/05 on all commercial farmers, which generates close to N$30 million annually. This revenue, said Eric Ndala of the Ministry of Lands, is used to complement the Land Acquisition and Development Fund (LADF). About 70% of the population is engaged in subsistence farming on State-owned communal land that covers 41% of the country. In contrast, less than 10% of the population lives and works on freehold farmland, which constitutes 44% of the country. Current statistics offered by the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement indicate that 2040 families (which translates into 12240 people, on the average of six people per family unit) have so far been resettled on commercial farmland, and 4617 families (about 27702 people) on communal land. The Government aims at having 26727 families benefit from the land reform process, to be settled on 15300000 hectares of land by 2020. But with the sluggish acquisition of commercial farmland, this target is likely not to be reached. This, according to Deputy Minister of Lands and Resettlement, Isak Katali, is because the government is not receiving farm offers from commercial farm-owners, “some of whom are in possession of vast land being unutilized and/or under-utilized”. Addressing the conference, Katali told the 150 delegates that the expropriation of commercial farms is a major hurdle in the land reform process. Ndala added that most of the commercial farms offered are too small, rocky and dry, with poor water infrastructure and hence not suitable for resettlement purposes. “The concept of willing-buyer/willing-seller and the payment of market-related prices fully protect the interests of existing landowners, as it neither compels them to sell against their will nor at a price with which they are not fully satisfied. On the other hand, the willing buyer offers no guarantee to the landless that they will acquire the land they want,” Ndala noted. The ministry has served expropriation notices to 11 farms, some of which are currently being contested in Namibia’s courts. Since independence, the government has acquired 209 farms in commercial areas through the willing-buyer/willing-seller expropriation process. This amounts to 1373704 hectares, and has cost the government N$215486949. A further 785 farms with a total of 3572077 hectares were acquired through Agribank’s Affirmative Action Loan Scheme. Many other farms, according to the Lands Ministry, have been and are being waived due to “unsuitability” for resettlement. The Ministry has similarly embarked on a programme to develop small-scale farms in communal areas, and has so far surveyed 457 small-scale farms in the Kavango Region, another 72 in Caprivi, and 24 in the Ohangwena Region. More are targeted in the Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, Omusati and Omaheke Regions. And, said Katali, mechanisms have been devised to accelerate the pace of land acquisition. The Ministry has set a target for acquisition of freehold land for 2020 to be 4100000 hectares, envisaged to cost the government N$1,025 billion, or N$68333333 annually. Another target is to acquire 5 million hectares in non-freehold land for development that is estimated to cost N$800 million, or N$53333333 per year. Post-settlement support is set at a total cost of N$1,402 billion, or N$93466667 per year. The Affirmative Action Loan programme is expected to take 6200000 hectares at an estimated N$496000000, or N$33066667 per year. Executive Director of the Namibia Emerging Farmers’ Association, Nokokure Tjizera, said although Namibia has rejected the reclaiming of ancestral land, it remains an issue that could cause turmoil. He suggested the establishment of a commission to study the current situation, problems and claims arising in relation to ancestral lands in the different regions and contexts of the country. “On the one hand, current landowners and international donors are encouraging the government to abide by the willing-buyer/willing-seller approach and not to entertain a Zimbabwe-style reclaiming of land. On the other hand, however, there are increasing demands from the landless and from within the governing party (SWAPO Party) for a more drastic approach to land reform, similar to that of Zimbabwe,” said Tjizera. His union suggested that the resettlement programme should take into account the different priority needs of communities, and that those who have lost land through dispossession should enjoy preference when the State acquires land for reform. “There must be one farmer, one farm policy,” suggested Tjizera. “The government should acquire and redistribute land from farmers owning more than one farm,” he said, adding that the policy of willing-buyer/willing-seller should be abolished. “In negotiations to pay compensation or to purchase farms in the commercial areas, the government should consider the value of loans given and other direct government subsidies given during the colonial era. Policies must move away from the notion of commercialization of communal land and support the development of communal farmers, particularly women, through improved extension and access to credit, markets and technology,” Tjizera said. SWANU’s president, Rihupisa Kandando, felt that land transformation should not be viewed as an end in itself, but should rather be “pro-poor”, demanding for clear and transparent allocation to rural development programmes. “The land reform and resettlement programmes in Namibia have yet to reach the point where they can make a substantial contribution to the growth and development of the economy as a whole,” he continued. “One of the more complex issues facing our government is precisely that of land, of potential radical groups of peasants or indigenous groups who believe they should have immediate access to land and in fact could be thinking of taking over productive land, versus commercial operators who want the government to recognize their legal land rights and guarantee continued production without such interference,” Kandando warned. Of concern to the conference is the fate of farm workers, where few have so far benefited from the land reform process. “(It) must be assumed that the majority of workers on farms bought by the State for redistribution had to leave those farms,”commented J. Steenkamp of the Ministry of Agriculture. “If land acquired for redistribution is allocated to farm labourers currently employed on these farms, it is likely that sustainable redistributive land reform will not put more people on freehold farms than the agricultural sector is currently employing,” he went on, adding that about 1000 hectares of freehold farmland support one farm worker and his or her dependents. He further reiterated the need for post-settlement support and services for resettled people to derive full benefits from their land and to secure food self-sustainability. The recommendations of the conference will be announced next week.