Land policy comes under the hammer

NAMIBIA’s land reform programme is “unrealistic” and “logically impossible”, having failed to empower the poor and landless since Independence, the Legal Assistance Centre says.

Resettlement beneficiaries have been found to lack basic farming skills, resulting in low sustainable income and continued reliance on Government support, says a just-released report by the LAC’s Land, Environment and Development Project. The LAC says that during its visits to resettlement farms it did not find a single project that was sustainable after five years, in accordance with the White Paper on Resettlement Policy.”Considering the resettlement projections and statistics, and judging by the number of people the Ministry of Lands has actually resettled in the last 15 years, it becomes clear that the goal of resettling 230 000 people over the next five years is unrealistic from an economic point of view, and logistically impossible,” says the hard-hitting report.With no clear guidelines on expropriation, the report says that to date the process appears to be based on punishing farmers involved in labour disputes.If challenged in court, Government could be found to be acting contrary to the Constitution – by expropriating on the basis of the mistreatment and eviction of farmworkers.”Recent expropriation notes appear to have been handed to farmers who have a history of labour disputes with their farmworkers.This would have the effect of reducing the process of expropriation to a punitive measure instead of what is in the public interest,” remarks the report.The Affirmative Action Loan Scheme (AALS) has also not been without its setbacks, says the LAC’s analysis of the Namibian Commercial Agricultural Land Reform Process.”There is no reason for emerging black farmers not to become successful farmers.But, for this to happen, a combined effort on the part of Government, the commercial farming sector and the donor community is needed to support the AALS,” says the report.Emerging black farmers appear to have consumed all the capital accumulated during the grace period and are unable to repay their loans.”The reality is that unless their loan is matched by some type of capital subsidy, their farm will fail.This would cause the AALS to be an economic drain rather than a creator of wealth,” says the LAC.The LAC says that sustainability can only be achieved over a longer period – of between 10 to 15 years – and needs to be monitored independently by consultants.”A major shortcoming of virtually all settlement projects appears to be a lack of capacity to manage them efficiently, which is crucial to achieve self-sufficiency.Moreover, there is little to suggest that resettlement beneficiaries are encouraged to participate in the decision-making processes of their respective projects,” says the report, noting that beneficiaries appear to wait for the Ministry of Lands to take decisions.Established farmers, the report recommends, should become more proactively involved in sharing their wealth of experience in farming commercially.Farmworkers should not only be included in the land reform process, but should be deemed a primary and priority target in land reform projects.The LAC suggests that Government consider a shared-ownership model involving commercial farmers and farm workers as an appropriate land-reform strategy.The LAC is of the view that such an approach would transfer land and skills from white commercial farmers to emerging black farmers without compromising the important contribution of commercial farming to the economy.”The Government should approach and encourage established farmers to become more involved in the land reform process as a whole,” recommends the LAC.Farmworkers could be granted funds to acquire a portion of the land to enter into partnership with a skilled commercial farmer, while the AALS could be extended to farm workers on condition that they undergo compulsory training.The LAC criticises Government’s expropriation “policy” (which at this stage is an unofficial one) for not taking into consideration the contribution commercial farms make in terms of earning foreign currency and providing employment.”This unclear policy on expropriation also has a negative effect, mainly on white commercial farmers, as it gives them little incentive to invest in their farms, and indeed makes them reluctant to do so,” says the LAC.The report comes at a time when Government is on the brink of taking ownership of its first expropriated farm, Ongombo West near Windhoek.The LAC says that during its visits to resettlement farms it did not find a single project that was sustainable after five years, in accordance with the White Paper on Resettlement Policy.”Considering the resettlement projections and statistics, and judging by the number of people the Ministry of Lands has actually resettled in the last 15 years, it becomes clear that the goal of resettling 230 000 people over the next five years is unrealistic from an economic point of view, and logistically impossible,” says the hard-hitting report.With no clear guidelines on expropriation, the report says that to date the process appears to be based on punishing farmers involved in labour disputes.If challenged in court, Government could be found to be acting contrary to the Constitution – by expropriating on the basis of the mistreatment and eviction of farmworkers.”Recent expropriation notes appear to have been handed to farmers who have a history of labour disputes with their farmworkers.This would have the effect of reducing the process of expropriation to a punitive measure instead of what is in the public interest,” remarks the report.The Affirmative Action Loan Scheme (AALS) has also not been without its setbacks, says the LAC’s analysis of the Namibian Commercial Agricultural Land Reform Process.”There is no reason for emerging black farmers not to become successful farmers.But, for this to happen, a combined effort on the part of Government, the commercial farming sector and the donor community is needed to support the AALS,” says the report.Emerging black farmers appear to have consumed all the capital accumulated during the grace period and are unable to repay their loans.”The reality is that unless their loan is matched by some type of capital subsidy, their farm will fail.This would cause the AALS to be an economic drain rather than a creator of wealth,” says the LAC.The LAC says that sustainability can only be achieved over a longer period – of between 10 to 15 years – and needs to be monitored independently by consultants.”A major shortcoming of virtually all settlement projects appears to be a lack of capacity to manage them efficiently, which is crucial to achieve self-sufficiency.Moreover, there is little to suggest that resettlement beneficiaries are encouraged to participate in the decision-making processes of their respective projects,” says the report, noting that beneficiaries appear to wait for the Ministry of Lands to take decisions.Established farmers, the report recommends, should become more proactively involved in sharing their wealth of experience in farming commercially.Farmworkers should not only be included in the land reform process, but should be deemed a primary and priority target in land reform projects.The LAC suggests that Government consider a shared-ownership model involving commercial farmers and farm workers as an appropriate land-reform strategy.The LAC is of the view that such an approach would transfer land and skills from white commercial farmers to emerging black farmers without compromising the important contribution of commercial farming to the economy.”The Government should approach and encourage established farmers to become more involved in the land reform process as a whole,” recommends the LAC.Farmworkers could be granted funds to acquire a portion of the land to enter into partnership with a skilled commercial farmer, while the AALS could be extended to farm workers on condition that they undergo compulsory training.The LAC criticises Government’s expropriation “policy” (which at this stage is an unofficial on
e) for not taking into consideration the contribution commercial farms make in terms of earning foreign currency and providing employment.”This unclear policy on expropriation also has a negative effect, mainly on white commercial farmers, as it gives them little incentive to invest in their farms, and indeed makes them reluctant to do so,” says the LAC.The report comes at a time when Government is on the brink of taking ownership of its first expropriated farm, Ongombo West near Windhoek.