Ministry extends deadline for green scheme applications

A senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform says the ministry decided to extend the deadline for applications to lease plots for small-scale farming at four green scheme irrigation projects around the country.

Deputy director for engineering Felix Ndinamwene yesterday said that the ministry recognised the need to extend the submission deadline to 31 March, to provide enough time to interested applicants.

The first announcement of the vacant small-scale irrigation plots was made January, and the deadline for application submissions fell on 28 February.

Young Namibians (under the age of 35) can apply to use vacant plots for small-scale farming at the Etunda Green Scheme in the Omusati region (28 vacant plots), the Musese Green Scheme in the Kavango West region (one vacant plot), the Ndonga Linena Green Scheme in the Kavango East region (four vacant plots), and the Orange River Irrigation Project in the //Kharas region (three vacant plots).

Ndinamwene said, according to the Green Scheme Policy – which aims to boost food production through irrigation utilising Namibia’s rivers – small-scale farmers must be included to accelerate food production, employment creation and mentorship, as well as contribute to efforts to achieving food security in the country.

He said small-scale farmers are given advisory services by the ministry to teach them how to apply fertilisers and chemicals, and disking techniques at no cost.

However, Ndinamwene added that the ministry used to procure these services from the Agricultural Business Development Agency (Agribusdev), which was dissolved last year.

He said as part of the mentorship provision, small-scale farmers are required to graduate and become medium- and large-scale farmers, and the process for applying for plots for medium-scale farming will be announced next month.

Regarding the current vacant small-scale farming plot, Ndinamwene said applicants are required to hold a qualification in a field such as agriculture, crop production or agribusiness from recognised educational institutions such as the University of Namibia, Namibia University of Science and Technology or a recognised vocational training institution.

Applicants will also need to submit a brief proposal plan detailing how they will carry out their farming.

“They will work with their own money, therefore, they will have to manage that themselves,” he said.

Ndinamwene said such plan should explain how an applicant will manage the plot, market produce and sell their crops.

“There is also a cost involved on things like disking, ploughing and irrigation. So, they need to have a business plan,” he added.

Green schemes projects are large commercial production farms operated and managed in accordance with the models outlined in the Green Scheme Policy.

However, greens schemes in Namibia have not always lived up to expectations, with many under-performing in recent years due to financial constraints and mismanagement.

Agribusdev, which operated the green schemes with the agriculture ministry, failed to provide sufficient agricultural inputs and equipment to the green schemes, which led to the dismantlement of the agency last year.