Land Reform targets 10 million hectares by 2020

WINDHOEK, 22 APR – After spending N$ 112 million on 11 farms measuring 44 000 hectares (ha) during the 2017/18 financial year, the Ministry of Land Reform intends to acquire 10 million ha over the next two years.
Delivering his ministry’s budget motivation statement in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Minister of Land Reform, Utoni Nujoma said the ministry expects to buy five million hectares of commercial agricultural land and another five million hectares of communal land by 2020.
The ministry resettled 28 farmers – 15 men and 13 women – under the resettlement programme during 2017/18.
“It should be noted that these numbers fall short of the demand for land, which is still significantly high and keeps escalating,” Nujoma said.
He stated that in the current financial year, the ministry expects to acquire about 11 farms.
“I also want to inform this August House that the N$ 120 million budgeted for the land purchase sub-programme will more or less bring in the same results in the current financial year,” said Nujoma.
Although under-funded, Nujoma said his ministry will require a minimum of N$ 476 186 000 to deliver its mandate for the 2018/19 financial year.
The programmes include land reform; valuation, property taxation and estate management; security of tenure and support services.
On the front of water infrastructure, the ministry developed 286 000 ha of land with 857 kilometres (km) of fencing; constructed 20 multi-purpose kraals; drilled 30 new boreholes and rehabilitated another 35.
In addition to this, 98km of water pipelines were installed in the Kavango East, Kavango West, Ohangwena, Omusati and Zambezi regions.
The infrastructure is set to benefit 7 800 farming households, while more will be developed in Otjozondjupa and Omaheke in the current financial year.
Nujoma further noted that the ministry was able to map and digitise 117 593 communal land rights out of a possible 196 000.
“At least people have security of tenure and they can now approach any financial institution if they so wish,” he said.
More so, 166 220 customary land rights have been registered and 101 432 certificates were issued in the process.
In a bid to improve the ease of conducting business in Namibia, 21 894 deeds and 3 775 sectional titles were registered. The ministry pocketed N$ 2 532 182 in the process.
Furthermore, the ministry collected N$ 20 828 627 from land tax.
NAMPA