While government has moved to lease out unproductive green scheme farms to investors, it has decided to hold onto three as it can sufficiently finance their operations. Another reason advanced is that government cannot give up on the farms to entirely leave them in the hands of private entities.

So far, the unproductive Etunda irrigation project alongside the Sikondo and Shadikongoro green schemes are going nowhere. The information was revealed by the ministry of agriculture’s spokesperson Jona Musheko in an interview on Wednesday.

“We can’t really let all the green schemes go because we still have to have some means of production. So far, five have already been advertised. But we are certain that we are remaining with not less than three, which is Sikondo, Shadikongoro [where there is production as we speak] and Etunda [where there is no production],” he explained.

After agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein announced that government plans to open bidding for its 11 green schemes for private investors, local business entities and politicians railed against the decision. According to them, Namibians have the capacity to successfully run the projects and there is, therefore, no need for foreign investors.

In August, Schlettwein told the leadership of the two Kavango regions that there is a need to discuss conditions about outsourcing and leasing, but not who runs the farms. He made these remarks during an engagement with the Kavango West and Kavango East regional councils and traditional authorities in Rundu.

This week, the minister said in order to make real, stepwise progress towards food self-sufficiency and given the imperative for food security, the strategic policy emphasis is now directed at intensive agriculture on the back of agricultural mechanisation and modernisation.

This delivery mode, he explained at an Agricultural Outlook event in the capital, is for de-risking the sector from a historical over-dependence on rain-fed activity and exposure to external trade shocks. In this regard, increased domestic productive capacity for basic foodstuffs, crop diversification and production inputs are key critical success factors to boost national food security and resilience.

“To this end, the ministry has, through a collective decision, commenced with the process of repurposing the green schemes by offering their operation and productive utilisation to private sector operators through a competitive process. The request for proposals (RFPs) for the green schemes have now been offered to the market. The investments are expected to promote the production of grains and cereals, and potatoes as basic staple foods, to reach food self-sufficiency, while allowing investors to diversify production into high-value horticulture, crops and fruits,” said Schlettwein.

Meanwhile, traditional authorities from the Kavango regions argued that locals have not benefited, while regional councils noted the green schemes collapsed due to a lack of supervision.

Earlier this week, New Era reported that the Etunda irrigation scheme, which was once regarded as a flagship agronomic project, has become a white elephant after failing to produce anything over the past 12 months. According to the ministry’s chief spokesperson, plans are afoot to resuscitate operations at Etunda. “We are making arrangements to see to it that for the next season that is starting in November, we start with production,” he said. Government’s decision to lease out the green schemes was necessitated by the poor management of the farms, and lack of funds to keep them afloat and productive.

Those in the agriculture ministry, however, point to poor funding and wrong recruitment as the main reasons for the colossal failure of the green schemes. The government farms were initially managed by the Agricultural Business Development Agency (AgriBusDev), until its recent demise. AgriBusDev was established in 2011 to monitor and create an ideal environment for achieving the objectives of the green schemes, as defined by the green scheme policy of 2008.

AgriBusDev now resorts under the agriculture and land reform ministry. Documents seen by New Era reveal that between the 2013 and 2021 financial years, AgriBusDev needed at least N$1.2 billion to optimally operate the 11 government green schemes.

But during those eight years, it only received N$490 million, or 41% of the amount that was needed to keep green schemes’ heads above water. When broken down, statistics show that it was only in 2013 that Agribusdev received the budget it required. That year, the troubled entity got N$10 million.

While the agency requested N$55 million from the treasury in 2014, only N$26 million was extended to it. It got worse. In 2015, Agribusdev needed N$157 million to run the farms, but only received N$74 million, documents further show. Moreover, in 2016, the agency requested a budget of N$ 227 million. It received only N$58 million from the State purse. The consistent under-funding continued simultaneously with the nosediving economy.

In 2017, Agribusdev requested N$229 million, just to receive N$57 million.

The following year, N$189 million was required to keep taps and tractors running at green schemes, but just N$42 million was allocated. Meanwhile, in 2019, Agribusdev requested N$178 million. It got N$88 million.

In 2020, there was a significant improvement in AgriBusDev’s funding as government pumped in N$129 million of the required N$145 million. Last week, agriculture and land reform executive director Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata opened tender bids for three green schemes. They are Uvhungu-Vhungu, Ndonga Linena and the Orange River irrigation project. “We want to test the market and see how investors will respond,” Musheko stated.

-emumbuu@nepc.com.na

Caption: (green)