Nahas Mustn’t Twist Facts Dear Prime Minister

WITH great interest I read the article by Brigitte Weidlich in The Namibian of October 31 regarding the speech you held at the Africa Forum on Agriculture.

Whilst it is an accepted fact worldwide that agriculture on subsistence level is no money-spinner for the poor, but only when it is run as a large-scale business concern, you are still advocating the fact that redressing the land question is going to solve the problems of the poor. Please, we Namibians regard you in the highest esteem for your honesty and pragmatism, so stay with well-known facts and do not lose our trust, by omitting or twisting these, however political expediencies might dictate otherwise.Just remember, most of us, and others, like Donor Organisations, are well informed, and when we read such statements as yours we feel that you are losing your credibility and honesty.Remember, most of the hard facts are today available on the Internet, and do not easily accept anybody’s word as the only and absolute truth.You mention that 4 000 farms are still in white hands, knowing well that already more than 800 are already in “PDP’s hands (or rather Landbank hands, creating what wealth?) But first, have a look at the map produced by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1998, on commercial farms with a carrying capacity of 10 kg/ha and less.Go and calculate if anyone would be able to produce a sustainable income from these farms.And at the same time look at the area of Governmental Land, presently completely undeveloped, but offering a carrying capacity of 45 kg/ha.And, please check on the “commercial” farms that are in Government hands (I am referring to the farms that are still counted as commercial farms that were taken over by Government during the Odendaal planning, and all that farms that had been bought during the Transitional Government rule, by the then “Ethnic” Governments) how productive are they and how many of these are really operating on a sustainable basis.Insinuating that production would increase once the land question in Southern Africa was resolved is simply not true.But, and I think this is the crux of the matter: have you ever asked the population of the age group 25 – 35 if they would LIKE TO LIVE ON A FARM AND MAKE A LIVING BY FARMING, and not actually to be a salary earner, and run the farm as a sideline business, meaning it is NOT FULLY PRODUCTIVE.Please do that, and do not be too surprised at the result.(A very interesting book ‘What comes after Mugabe’ might give you an idea what to expect.They have done a survey on about 2 million Zimbabweans living around Johannesburg, and the result makes actually very interesting reading ).Rainer G.Iben WindhoekPlease, we Namibians regard you in the highest esteem for your honesty and pragmatism, so stay with well-known facts and do not lose our trust, by omitting or twisting these, however political expediencies might dictate otherwise.Just remember, most of us, and others, like Donor Organisations, are well informed, and when we read such statements as yours we feel that you are losing your credibility and honesty.Remember, most of the hard facts are today available on the Internet, and do not easily accept anybody’s word as the only and absolute truth.You mention that 4 000 farms are still in white hands, knowing well that already more than 800 are already in “PDP’s hands (or rather Landbank hands, creating what wealth?) But first, have a look at the map produced by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1998, on commercial farms with a carrying capacity of 10 kg/ha and less.Go and calculate if anyone would be able to produce a sustainable income from these farms.And at the same time look at the area of Governmental Land, presently completely undeveloped, but offering a carrying capacity of 45 kg/ha.And, please check on the “commercial” farms that are in Government hands (I am referring to the farms that are still counted as commercial farms that were taken over by Government during the Odendaal planning, and all that farms that had been bought during the Transitional Government rule, by the then “Ethnic” Governments) how productive are they and how many of these are really operating on a sustainable basis.Insinuating that production would increase once the land question in Southern Africa was resolved is simply not true.But, and I think this is the crux of the matter: have you ever asked the population of the age group 25 – 35 if they would LIKE TO LIVE ON A FARM AND MAKE A LIVING BY FARMING, and not actually to be a salary earner, and run the farm as a sideline business, meaning it is NOT FULLY PRODUCTIVE.Please do that, and do not be too surprised at the result.(A very interesting book ‘What comes after Mugabe’ might give you an idea what to expect.They have done a survey on about 2 million Zimbabweans living around Johannesburg, and the result makes actually very interesting reading ).Rainer G.Iben Windhoek