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NAU wants to know why government waived five million hectares of land offered

2018-10-02  Staff Reporter

NAU wants to know why government waived five million hectares of land offered

WINDHOEK –The prominent issue to be investigated and actions taken at the land conference are the reasons  and  challenges  as  to  why  the  Ministry  of  Land  Reform  waived  five million hectares of  land  offered  since 1992,  rather  than  abolishing  the principle of willing buyer, willing seller, says the Namibian Agricultural Union (NAU) president, Ryno van der Merwe.

Van der Merwe dismissed rumours of the NAU not partaking in the second land conference. He stressed the fact that the agricultural sector is in dire need of growth, and it is of utmost importance that investments take place to increase productivity of land. The NAU says according  to  the  statistics  of  the  National  Statistics  Agency,  since  1992  more  than  eight  million hectares of land were offered to government through the willing buyer, willing seller initiative. 

An  estimated  three million  hectares  of  land  were  bought  by  the  Ministry  of  Land  Reform  for resettlement  purposes,  while  five million  hectares  were  waived  to  be  sold  to  any  willing  buyer. 

He says the NAU has developed a land ownership database of all title deeds in Namibia, and it continuously monitors the progress with land reform and change in ownership of title deed farms. The latest update  of  the  database  shows  that  Namibia  consists  of  82.4  million  hectares,  of  which  13.6 million  hectares  consist  of  national  parks  and  restricted  areas.  Land utilised for agricultural purposes, private tourism, town lands and mines is about 68 million hectares in total, of which 56 percent (38 million ha) are freehold title deed land and 44 percent (30 million ha) are communal land. 

Due  to  a  peaceful  land  reform  process  implemented  by the government  under  the  current  and previous leadership, previously disadvantaged individuals as well as government currently own 9.5  million  hectares  of  title  deed  areas  in  Namibia.  

Therefore,  about  60 percent of  total  land  in Namibia  utilised  for  agricultural  purposes,  private  tourism,  mines  and  town  lands  (including communal  areas)  currently  belongs  to  either  the  government  or  previously  disadvantaged individuals.

 “The NAU wants to reiterate that we fully support the land reform process. We have trust in government that the constitution will be upheld, while this process takes place.”


2018-10-02  Staff Reporter

Tags: Khomas
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