WINDHOEK – Dry land crop producers face an insurance premium increase due to risk climate conditions tied to the current drought. Producers in the maize triangle New Era spoke to yesterday confirmed their dilemma, saying the prospects of producing average yields are dwindling by the day.
Having been advised by the insurance industry of the premium increase, there are now fears that farmers would plant much less than last season because of the risks the insurance industry associates with dry land crop farming, combined with expectations of lower than average rainfall for this year.
“Many dry land crop producers have been informed by their insurance brokers that premiums of insurance policies have shot up because of the high risks involved in dry land farming under utmost dry conditions. Because of the high risks involved due to the absence of rain and no reliable forecast for the long term, dry land farmers will simply not be able to pay increased premiums under such dicey circumstances. This will almost surely result in farmers planting much less than last season. The consequences of this happening are rather depressing, but producers still have up to the middle of February to plant if they receive good rains in the coming days,” said Antoinette Venter, administrative manager of grain of the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB).
Farmers spoken to confirmed that they are likely to plant much less than last season if the rains stay away, saying the soil in the area has been depleted of moisture. While they could still rely on moisture from previous good rains last season, this is not the case anymore due to the effects of the current drought.
No rain fell in November, which is the beginning of the planting season and there have been only sporadic downpours so far this year.
Last year’s planting season already saw a reduction of 48 percent below average for maize while mahangu yields were 47 percent below average.
The lack of rain in the pre-season could have a severe impact on Namibia’s production of white maize, mahangu (pearl millet), wheat and sorghum, which yielded a total of 94 300 tonnes in the 2012/13 season. It represented a decrease in output of 27 percent below average and 43 percent lower than the previous season.
Venter said because the rains stayed away in November and much of December, all hopes of farmers in the maize triangle – Otavi, Grootfontein, and Tsumeb – are now pinned on at least normal rainfall as from the third week in January.
The NAB will start with a national survey in the coming days to establish how much coarse grain has already been planted, as well as on expectations for this season.
Venter said if producers were to plant some 40 percent less than the previous season, the yield of 36 600 tonnes from 10 275 hectares of dry land would drop accordingly.
“Just image the almost insignificantly small harvest we will get from only 6 000 hectares.
The possible devastation from this abnormal situation calls for desperate measures and the agronomic board has been constantly in consultation with various institutions to bring some financial assistance to dry land producers who are already suffering from extremely high input costs,” she added.
Venter said the alarm bells went off for dry land producers when the so-called “small rainy season” in October 2013 never materialised, when hardly a drop of rain was measured in the heart of the dry land production areas.
She stressed that the situation is worsened by the fact that local producers will not be able to compete with cheaper imported maize from South Africa and elsewhere if those countries experience good rains and proper harvests. This would surely result in increased prices.
Producers also stressed that planting can only be done at the latest up to the end of February because after that they would be exposed to the risks of early cold weather that could destroy crops.
Meanwhile, poor grazing conditions are still threatening livestock in most of the regions as the drought conditions prevail. Various parts of the country are still reporting livestock losses and starvation of animals due to lack of grazing. Household food security is also tightening in the regions as hunger reached its peak in November last year.
Households in many regions already reported the depletion of their food stocks at the end of last year and the situation is expected to worsen in the absence of rain in the coming days.
By Deon Schlechter