OMUTHIYA – Many farms owned by government in Oshikoto Region are not suitable for resettlement purposes, hence the governor of the region, Henock Kankoshi, has appealed to commercial farmers to offer some of their farms for resettlement.
The size of the land and vegetation are said to be among the reasons for unsuitability as some farmland are either too small in size or rocky, making it difficult for crop farmers to make a living, said Kankoshi during his state of the region address. He however said five farm assessments were conducted during the 2018/2019 financial year.
Kankoshi further said that there was no infrastructure development carried out during the period under review due to a delay in procurement procedures.
“Water infrastructure materials for 16 boreholes in 15 farming units have been acquired pending installations during the first quarter of 2019. It is therefore recommended that the water infrastructure and rehabilitation development division installs the 16 boreholes with the available materials, and ensure that they solicit funds to drill boreholes on the farming units that require more water infrastructure,” said Kankoshi.
In addition, he said, the cumbersome procurement processes negatively affected productivity of crop farmers.
During the period under review, the Oshikoto Communal Land Board ratified and registered 324 customary land rights. Also, 31 leaseholds were registered, of which three leaseholds are for agricultural purposes inside a designated area, 26 rights for leaseholds for agricultural purposes inside a designated area (Mangetti communal area) and two for agricultural purposes outside a designated area.
“The verification and mapping of land parcels was not carried out during the review period. This is as a result of the Communal Land Right Registration programme that was put on hold and the expiration of the employment contracts of administrative staff that led to the poor achievements of set targets,” stressed Kankoshi when pointing out some of the challenges.
Poor revenue collection was also highlighted as a concern. Government was only able to collect N$8 965.65 from resettlement leases and N$4 865.07 from communal leases.
“A list of defaulters will be submitted to the Oshikoto Communal Land Board and the Oshikoto Regional Resettlement Committee for necessary measures to be enforced, although, as a corrective measure, reminder letters were sent to the beneficiaries to pay their rental fees,” he said.