WRITTEN QUESTION E-0195/99

by Christof Tannert (PSE) to the Commission

(11 February 1999)

Subject: EU programmes in Namibia

Can the Commission state when, with what funding, on what scale, in what region and with what partners the following programmes have been, or are being, implemented in Namibia:

(a) the Animal Disease Control Programme, and

(b) the Livestock Marketing Project which is supported by the Commission?

Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission

(18 March 1999)

Support for livestock farming in Namibia forms part of a sectoral policy defined and carried out by the country itself. Its main features are sustainable development, long-term investment, securing of funding and eventual transfer of operations to the national budget, and vesting of responsibility in the national veterinary services. The aim is to boost the income of small farmers, improve protection against endemic livestock diseases and build up the meat export sector.

Namibia has received over [fmxeuro]1,4 million under the SADC regional animal disease control programme, which is now nearing completion. Implemented by the national veterinary services, its aim is essentially to protect Namibia's cattle population against contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and foot-and-mouth disease. Its main targets are small farmers on communal lands north of the cordon sanitaire. Most of the money has been spent on vaccines, but studies have been put in hand into the livestock market and the development of stockfarming on communal lands in northern districts. The programme has also provided a platform for discussions on national direct or indirect funding for vaccination schemes via a slaughter tax.

Namibia was not initially involved in the regional tsetse and trypanosomiasis programme but an indicative sum of [fmxeuro]200 000 was set aside to enable it participate. This programme too has been carried out by national veterinary services and the country financed the bulk of its own equipment and staffing requirements. The project accounts are now being wound up and financial responsibility for subsequent operations passes to the national exchequer.

At the purely national level a financing agreement worth [fmxeuro]3,75 million was signed on 20 December 1995 for a livestock marketing project being carried out on communal lands north of the cordon sanitaire. The project aims to bring about real increases in small farmers' earnings from the sale of their cattle by upgrading or establishing seven quarantine holdings run by the national veterinary services, running from Kunen in the west to Caprivi in the east along the line of the cordon sanitaire, improving their infrastructure, including living and office accommodation, securing water supplies and providing the necessary equipment. It is consistent with Namibia's overall livestock farming development policy and meshes with other Community-backed operations, in that it (a) helps improve the lot of peasant farmers in the north of the country, underpinning rural development programmes (extension services, cooperatives, micro-projects) and ensuring their sustainability; (b) helps prevent the spread of livestock diseases endemic south of the line, thus contributing to regional disease control campaigns; and (c) ensures that Namibia can continue to earn foreign exchange by exporting meat from commercial holdings both to the Community, under a special protocol to the Lomé Convention, and to South Africa.