Green Scheme in desperate need of funding

ONE of former President Sam Nujoma’s most ambitions and cherished agricultural projects, the Green Scheme, is in dire need of a financial injection after a US government development agency rejected a funding proposal submitted by the National Planning Commission (NPC).

However, the Green Scheme is still expected to be discussed with a top official of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) arriving in Namibia this week. The US might provide some US$300 million (N$2,1 billion) to Namibia for various development projects in the agricultural, tourism, transport and education sectors.The MCC Managing Director for Africa, Darius Mans, will be overseeing the work done by the corporation’s experts who arrived in Namibia recently to analyse Namibia’s MCC proposal projects.The proposals were submitted last September after the country became eligible for funding from the MCC.Agriculture Minister Dr Abraham Iyambo said in Parliament last week that the Green Scheme, which Government approved in August 2003, was supposed to create thousands of jobs over 15 years but would cost about N$3,84 billion and those funds would come from State coffers.Minister Iyambo was responding to questions from DTA politician McHenry Venaani.”The contribution by the private sector is expected to be N$7,43 billion over the same period,” Iyambo said.”The Green Scheme could create some 10 000 permanent and about 3 500 seasonal jobs,” Iyambo added, “but funding will always be a problem.”The Scheme was discarded from the projects to be funded from the MCC and our Ministry is now exploring several other avenues like assistance from Germany’s Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW) and from China.Our Ministry is doing its best in terms of infrastructure development with funds from our development budget, but it is hopelessly inadequate in terms of the goal to develop 27 000 hectares for irrigation over the next 15 years,” Iyambo said.In the Caprivi Region, which had the highest potential for Green Scheme activities, development was very slow, mainly due to “confusion amongst the community on who is doing what, where and by whom.”The Caprivi Governor is now organising a meeting to bring all stakeholders together to discuss and agree on a land use plan for the region, Iyambo told the House.The Green Scheme is envisaged to put nearly 30 000 hectares of crops like maize, wheat, mahangu and vegetables under irrigation, mainly along perennial rivers, to make Namibia largely self-sufficient.Any new commercial irrigation project must have a black empowerment component, like at Etunda near Ruacana, where large-scale commercial crop farming is done.About 107 local farmers are settled on smaller plots in the vicinity and they benefit from existing infrastructure and can rent farming equipment like tractors and sell their produce together with the commercial enterprise.Namibia currently has 9 000 ha under irrigation, including the very successful table grape projects along the Orange River, and some 3 000 hectares fall under the Green Scheme.The US might provide some US$300 million (N$2,1 billion) to Namibia for various development projects in the agricultural, tourism, transport and education sectors.The MCC Managing Director for Africa, Darius Mans, will be overseeing the work done by the corporation’s experts who arrived in Namibia recently to analyse Namibia’s MCC proposal projects.The proposals were submitted last September after the country became eligible for funding from the MCC.Agriculture Minister Dr Abraham Iyambo said in Parliament last week that the Green Scheme, which Government approved in August 2003, was supposed to create thousands of jobs over 15 years but would cost about N$3,84 billion and those funds would come from State coffers.Minister Iyambo was responding to questions from DTA politician McHenry Venaani.”The contribution by the private sector is expected to be N$7,43 billion over the same period,” Iyambo said.”The Green Scheme could create some 10 000 permanent and about 3 500 seasonal jobs,” Iyambo added, “but funding will always be a problem.”The Scheme was discarded from the projects to be funded from the MCC and our Ministry is now exploring several other avenues like assistance from Germany’s Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW) and from China.Our Ministry is doing its best in terms of infrastructure development with funds from our development budget, but it is hopelessly inadequate in terms of the goal to develop 27 000 hectares for irrigation over the next 15 years,” Iyambo said.In the Caprivi Region, which had the highest potential for Green Scheme activities, development was very slow, mainly due to “confusion amongst the community on who is doing what, where and by whom.”The Caprivi Governor is now organising a meeting to bring all stakeholders together to discuss and agree on a land use plan for the region, Iyambo told the House.The Green Scheme is envisaged to put nearly 30 000 hectares of crops like maize, wheat, mahangu and vegetables under irrigation, mainly along perennial rivers, to make Namibia largely self-sufficient.Any new commercial irrigation project must have a black empowerment component, like at Etunda near Ruacana, where large-scale commercial crop farming is done.About 107 local farmers are settled on smaller plots in the vicinity and they benefit from existing infrastructure and can rent farming equipment like tractors and sell their produce together with the commercial enterprise.Namibia currently has 9 000 ha under irrigation, including the very successful table grape projects along the Orange River, and some 3 000 hectares fall under the Green Scheme.