Government should spend more on agriculture

IF Government does not increase its spending on agriculture – only 3,6 per cent of the National Budget compared to 10 per cent for defence – then the Vision 2030 development plan will become “Vision Impossible” a top business executive has warned.

Speaking at the annual congress dinner of the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) last Wednesday night, Reinhold Vekuii Rukoro, who heads the First National Bank Group, said Government fell desperately short of a 2003 decision by all African heads of state to increase national spending on agriculture to ten per cent of their annual budgets. Industrialised countries boosted agriculture to accelerate development, as could be seen also in Asian countries, Rukoro, who serves on the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, told the 400 guests.In 2003, the annual gathering of heads of state of the African Union in Mozambique decided to spend at least ten per cent of their national budgets on the agricultural sector, but this did not materialise, Rukoro said.The decision was preceded by a similar decision by governments of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Tanzania in August 2000.”Total government expenditure [on agriculture] in Africa is around five per cent, while Asian countries spend 15 per cent.The real value of agriculture, which is the foundation of an economy, has neither been appreciated nor reached yet.”Namibia spent 9,5 per cent on defence in 2005-06 plus 9,1 per cent on police, together almost 20 per cent,” Rukoro pointed out.This should change, since agriculture contributed directly and indirectly between nine and 13 per cent to the Namibian economy, he said.Agriculture is the largest economic sector in many developing countries, and the best instrument to promote economic growth and alleviate rural poverty if investments are made.The Namibian Government should give land rights to people farming in non-freehold areas and to resettlement beneficiaries, which they then could use as collateral to obtain loans for their farming activities, the FNB Executive proposed.”Appropriate and flexible legislation governing the rights of land reform beneficiaries is urgently needed and long overdue,” he said.To achieve Vision 2030, public-private partnerships should be forged to provide input and targets for public spending in order to link demand for and supply of scarce funds to the right focus areas.”Let’s put our money where our mouths are.If we don’t, Vision 2030 may as well become Vision Impossible,” Rukoro stated.Industrialised countries boosted agriculture to accelerate development, as could be seen also in Asian countries, Rukoro, who serves on the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, told the 400 guests.In 2003, the annual gathering of heads of state of the African Union in Mozambique decided to spend at least ten per cent of their national budgets on the agricultural sector, but this did not materialise, Rukoro said.The decision was preceded by a similar decision by governments of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Tanzania in August 2000. “Total government expenditure [on agriculture] in Africa is around five per cent, while Asian countries spend 15 per cent.The real value of agriculture, which is the foundation of an economy, has neither been appreciated nor reached yet.”Namibia spent 9,5 per cent on defence in 2005-06 plus 9,1 per cent on police, together almost 20 per cent,” Rukoro pointed out.This should change, since agriculture contributed directly and indirectly between nine and 13 per cent to the Namibian economy, he said.Agriculture is the largest economic sector in many developing countries, and the best instrument to promote economic growth and alleviate rural poverty if investments are made.The Namibian Government should give land rights to people farming in non-freehold areas and to resettlement beneficiaries, which they then could use as collateral to obtain loans for their farming activities, the FNB Executive proposed.”Appropriate and flexible legislation governing the rights of land reform beneficiaries is urgently needed and long overdue,” he said.To achieve Vision 2030, public-private partnerships should be forged to provide input and targets for public spending in order to link demand for and supply of scarce funds to the right focus areas.”Let’s put our money where our mouths are.If we don’t, Vision 2030 may as well become Vision Impossible,” Rukoro stated.