Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698751133079.pdf (Namibia)
REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT VOTE 37: AGRICULTURE AND LAND REFORM HON.
ANNA NDAHAMBELELA SHIWEDA, MP DEPUTY MINISTER 31 MARCH 2023 REPUBLICOFNAMIBIAMINISTRYOFAGRICULTURE,WATERANDLANDREFORMBUDGETMOTIVATIONSTATEMENTVOTE37:AGRICULTUREANDLANDREFORMHON.ANNANDAHAMBELELASHIWEDA,MPDEPUTYMINISTER31MARCH2023 BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 Our country, its people and, indeed, our national development plans anchor their aspirations on agriculture and the land resource as economic progression and social indispensable means transformation.
The signiﬁcance of this aspiration emanates from the fact that agriculture is a direct or indirect source of livelihoods for about 70 percent of Namibians.
for In fact, the agriculture sector is: - A source for national food and nutrition security; A source of inclusive growth and income generation; the largest employer, accounting for about 23 percent of total employment as at the last count in 2018, with still an untapped high job creation potential, given the sector’s high employment absorption capacity, and It is a distinct pathway to poverty reduction and the erosion of structurally high income inequalities through per capita income generation and wealth creating empowerment programmes.
Namibia’s agro-climatic conditions and geographic position render our country amongst the driest in the Sub-Saharan African Region and, thus, highly susceptible to climate change and variability.
Already, and after three consecutive years of good rains, the current weather patterns indicate that multi-faceted shocks emanating from poor average rainfall for the year are becoming increasingly manifest, livestock and all the industries that are water affecting the crop, dependent; a situation which calls for urgent commensurate mitigation responsiveness and resource outlay.
Against this backdrop, , I rise to introduce the budget for Vote 2 | Page MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM HonourableChairpersonoftheWholeHouseCommittee,HonourableMembers,1.2.2.12.22.32.4HonourableChairpersonoftheWholeHouseCommittee,3.4.HonourableChairpersonandHonourableMembers37:Agricultureand BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 consideration and approval.

for your favourable The proposed total budget for Vote 37 before you, amounts to ( ).
This is 27 percent higher than the revised allocation for the just ending ﬁnancial year, namely is about 2.4 percent of Furthermore, expenditure and 0.8 percent of GDP.

it the total non-statutory The allocation that I referred to earlier, consists of reﬂects the ﬁeld-based nature of for Operational Expenditure, Agriculture and Land Reform functions.
In addition, the proposed this development budget about 38 percent better than the revised allocation for allocation amounts under to and 7.2 percent of the total Development Budget outlay.

At 2.4 percent of total non-statutory expenditure and coming in below 1 percent of GDP, signiﬁcant alignment to Agriculture as a national priority sector, let alone the added Land Reform function, would be urgently needed in the coming years.
This will enable the Government to make notable progress in achieving our ambitions for food security and self-sufﬁciency in basic staple foods, and if we are to make an in reducing income inequalities of historical accelerated dent proportions associated with the political economy of our country.
(i) Agriculture Development, (ii) Land Reform and Resettlement, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 3 | Page LandReformforthe2023/2024FinancialYear5.N$1,752,069,000.00onebillion,sevenhundredandﬁfty-twomillionandsixty-ninethousandNamibiadollars2022/23.6.N$1,282,069,000.00N$470,000,000.00FY2022/237.HonourableChairpersonoftheWholeHouseCommittee,HonourableMembers;8.Vote37consistsoffour(4)programmesnamely, BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 (iii) Land Management and (iv) Policy Coordination and Support Services.
Allow me, therefore, to provide a synopsis of main achievements that were accomplished, and the speciﬁc activities and development projects proposed for funding under these programmes.
This programme consists of the following line functions: Veterinary Services, Agriculture Production, Extension and Engineering Services Agricultural Research and Development This programme is at the core of the food and nutrition security objectives, but also the provision of ﬁeld-based services to enhance increased agricultural production and productivity.
The same programme is also to ensuring the required capacity to meet sanitary and essential phytosanitary standards for market access and market diversiﬁcation for our crop and livestock products, at national, regional and international levels.

It is important to further highlight that this is a programme that has a high job content when the enabling infrastructure and support services are optimally enabled.
The objectives of the programme is to, among others: contribute to the achievement of national food and nutrition security through effective and broad-based agricultural extension and veterinary services and the development of value chains in the sector; enhancing animal and plant health through annual vaccination, disease surveillance and diagnostic services to combat the outbreak of diseases such as the Foot and Mouth Disease, Lung Sickness, Contagious Bovine Pleuroneumonia (CBPP) as well as the outbreak of locusts and other pests; and 4 | Page MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 9.Programme1:AgricultureDevelopment10.i.ii.iii.11.11.111.2 BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 increased production, productivity and the adoption of productivity enhancing innovations through agricultural and development.
research During the current ﬁnancial year, progress has been made with some interventions implemented under this programme, namely: - The which underpin our food security objectives, are being strategically realigned under the Ministry after several years of institutional challenges at AgriBusDev.
Already these assets have been put into production, with an average total production of about 7,000 tons of white maize produced in addition to winter crops, effectively doubling the yields from other operational Schemes, and potentially overﬂowing the capacity of the National Strategic Food Reserve which currently stands at 11 000 metric tons.
have been run for the three Schemes, namely Ndonga Linena; Uvhungu Vhung and Orange River Irrigation Project (ORIP), while the bid for Uvhungu Vhungu Dairy Project has already been awarded.
The Ministry will proceed to bring to market some of the remaining Green Schemes as well as to develop other brownﬁeld projects with high potential for economic growth and job creation, such as the Neckartal Irrigation Project for which a critical mass of land of about 19 137 hectares has already been secured, 12.3 were capacitated on crop, horticulture and livestock production as well as demonstrations, farm visits and training rangeland management through activities at the Agricultural Development Centres (ADCs); , a total of MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 5 | Page 11.312.12.1GreenSchemeprojects12.2BidsforprivatesectorparticipationUnderAgriculturalExtensionProgram31,866farmers BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 from subsidised mechanized , a total of while 5,745 males, and 9,206 services.
This 12.4 over female programme is beneﬁted set to beneﬁt from the current roll-out of the ) with the ﬁnancial support of the African Development Bank (AfDB) for which tractors with matching implements were procured and delivered to Zambezi Region.

In addition were delivered and already deployed to the Crop Regions.
Whereas the ramaining tractors are awarded and awaits delivery; Growing to no less than about and Omaheke Regions in line with Policy directive; distributed in Kunene, Otjozondjupa of foundation seeds and were produced and redistributed to farmers under the Namsip Programme.

These seed were produced at the Ministry’s Research as Cooperatives and private farms; Stations as well continues to be one of the mainstay of livelihoods for the majority of Namibians.
Our rapid response to the outbreak of various livestock diseases have enabled us to vaccinate cattle against and over cattle against the .
It is through assured, making effective veterinary services that our market access is Namibia to be among the few African countries to the niche markets, such as the United States of America, China, Norway and European Union (EU); with access Equally, the government has invested in livestock value chain infrastructure in the NCAs to unlock the economic potential for rural communities and the producers in the Northern Communal MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 6 | Page OntheDrylandCropProductionProgrammeDCPP)14,951Communalfarmers,comprisingofNamibiaSeedImprovementandMechanisationProgramme(Namsip18oftheexpected350380walkingtractorsandseeddrillers12.5TheSmallStockDevelopmentandDistributionProgramme580goats58beneﬁciaries12.6117tons1,057tonsofcertiﬁedseeds12.7Thelivestocksector1,113,687CBPP500,000FootandMouthDiseaseintheNorthernCommunalAreas(NCAs)12.8Areasinparticular.
BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 In this regard, the Katima Mulilo Abattoir came into operation again in 2021 and, for the ﬁrst time in the history of an independent beef products from the NCAs have reached regional markets, Ghana, Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo under Namibia, such as the and with the quality and safety second to none!

; For the Financial Year 2023/24, a total of N$ is budgeted for this Programme.
The allocation will enable the programme to, among others: - procure various doses of vaccines, and undertake annual vaccination campaigns and farm inspections in line with best international standards as well as procure diagnostic materials and support the maintenance of the Central Veterinary Laboratory; Feasibility assessment for the extension of the Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory at the Central Veterinary Laboratory for the a local in the future; establishment of Construction and Renovation of Veterinary Clinics to meet the requirements of the Veterinary Council and for efﬁcient delivery of veterinary services in various regions of the country; Feasibility assessment for the establishment of a veterinary barrier on the Namibia-Angola border to effectively prevent the introduction FMD and CBPP diseases into the NCA; of operationalization of the abattoirs and complete the construction of the in the NCA to enable the MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 7 | Page 12.9Commodity-BasedTradeHonourableChairpersonoftheWholeHouseCommitteeHonourableMembers13.1,061,296,000.0013.113.2VaccineProductionCapacity13.313.413.5BeefValueChainDevelopmentOngwedivaMeatProcessingPlant; BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 Procure fertilizers and farming inputs for the Green Schemes and Dry Land Crop Production Programme; and Supporting the development of the Value Chains comprising, among others, Horticulture, Poultry and Dairy Value Chains.
; This programme is critical for our country’s socio-economic transformation, redress of past injustices and empowering our people to provide through the acquisition of the land as well as This programme consist of two line functions: Land Reform i. ii.

Resettlement and Regional Programme Implementation Programme two addresses itself to land acquisition for resettlement purposes for the previously disadvantaged Namibians, including the Special Social Groups.
In particular, the Ministry is seized with the implementation of the Resolutions of the Second Land Conference, for which 25 resolutions are fully implemented and 134 are ongoing.

A High-Level Committee, comprising of various stakeholders and chaired by the Right Honourable Prime Minister is set up by the Cabinet and is charged with the responsibility to implement the resolutions.

Funding resources constraints and market price considerations limit the scale and speed of land acquisition.
For the current ﬁnancial year, the Ministry, with the resources at its disposal, implemented the following activities: i. acquired eight farms for resettlement, with a combined size of hectares at a cost of N$ million; 8 | Page MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 13.613.7HonourableChairpersonoftheWholeHouseCommittee;HonourableMembersProgramme2:LandReform14.Post-ResettlementSupportServices.39731.36882,9 BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 ii.
Resettled under the current ﬁnancial year 18 beneﬁciaries were iii.

iv.
v. hectares at the cost of N$ resettled while 1 Co-operative was given 3 Units; The Ministry further acquired 3 farms near the Neckartal Dam, with a combined size of for the development of the Neckartal Irrigation Project Phase 2; Communal Land Right registrations were ratiﬁed by over Communal Land Boards, thus strengthening the security of land tenure in Communal areas; and a Revised Resettlement Policy was approved by Cabinet, providing for, among others, the option of resettled farmers to have titles over their allocated farms, thus fully realising the empowerment objectives of the Land Reform agenda.
; For the ﬁnancial year , a total of this programme.

This proposed allocation aims to, among others, support: is allocated for i. ii.

iii.

land acquisition for resettlement purposes; provision of Post-Resettlement Support Services and supporting programme implementation in collaboration with the Regional Authorities; and the development of of the in and the implementation to provide title deeds to residents and .
One of the transformational reforms envisaged for the coming in Parliament, which is ﬁnancial year is the tabling of the now at advanced legal drafting stage.

The Bill will, among others, provide for the legal framework to implement the Resolutions of the revised criterion for Second Land Conference.
Further, the Revised resettlement will be developed on the back of Resettlement Policy as approved by the Cabinet this year to give a 9 | Page MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 19137.59418604884.422,180HonorableChairpersonoftheWholeHouseCommittee;HonourableMembers2023/24N$220,693,000.00RegionalLandUsePlansFlexibleLandTenureSystemUrbanPeri-Urbanareas15.LandBill BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 the farms and to greater impetus on assessed productivity of promote youth, women and vulnerable groups’ consideration in the resettlement activities.
; This programme is responsible for the following activities: land valuation; estates management and taxation; land surveying and mapping; activities of the Deeds Ofﬁces, and the delimitation; i. ii.

iii.

iv.

v. And Demarcation of Namibia’s international borders.

A total of among others: - is requested for this programme for, Improvement of the Deeds Register through system acquisition; i.

Administration of land tax and valuation roll; ii.

iii.

Development and improvement of geo-spatial data; and iv.
Surveying and mapping in support of urban development and land resettlement functions.

This programme is responsible for: Policy and regulatory functions and supervision, Promoting agricultural marketing system and support services for the ﬁeld-based functions.

i. ii.

the maintenance of the Ministry’s capital infrastructure, Information systems and vehicle ﬂeet.
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 10 | Page HonourableChairpersonoftheWholeHouseCommittee;HonourableMembersProgramme3:LandManagement16.17.N$67,687,000.00Programme4:PolicyCoordinationandSupportServices18.Thekeyongoingactivitiesentailthefollowing:a.b.

BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 Amongst other policy reviews, the Property Valuers Profession Amendment Act was gazetted and the Ministry is now seized with the implementation process.
the development of the National Agriculture Investment Plan; the review of the 1997 Drought Policy; the Disaster Risk Management Strategy for the Agriculture sector, Valuation Bill, the Meat Industry Amendment Bill; and Various pieces of legislation governing plant health.

A total of ﬁnancial year for this programme as a support function to enable the Vote to support the implementation of the various functions as stated above across the country.
requested for the As I conclude, I wish to ﬁrstly, express my profound gratitude to our Minister Hon.

Carl Schlettwein for steering the ship through high seas of ﬂoods, droughts and many other challenges.

Secondly, I would also like to thank Hon.

Ipumbu Shiimi, Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, Hon.

Obeth Kandjoze, Director General of the National Planning Commission and their Technical Teams for always having an understanding for the needs of our sectors.
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 11 | Page Otherkeypolicyandlegislationreviewsthatareenvisagedforthecomingﬁnancialyearinclude:a)b)c)d)e)19.N$402,393,000.00is2023/24HonourableChairpersonoftheWholeHouseCommittee;HonourableMembers;20.

BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 Thirdly, I would like to applaud our Executive Director, Ms. Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata with her management team and the entire staff complement for ensuring that the Ministry’s mandate is implemented.
The total budget request for Vote 37: Agriculture and Land Reform .

While there is a need to scale-up this amounts to amount it will go a long way to improve developmental outcomes in the four Programmes and their linkages to other economic and social sectors through multiplier effects.

in subsequent years, Honourable Chairperson, Honourable Members I thus seek for your support and approval for the proposed allocation of to Vote 37.
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 12 | Page 21.N$1,752,062,000.0022.1,752,062,000.00Ithankyouverymuchforyourkindattention.

BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 13 | Page BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 14 | Page BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, WATER AND LAND REFORM 15 | Page BUDGET MOTIVATION STATEMENT: VOTE 37 16 | Page