Namibia faces 114 360 tonne wheat shortage

BREAD, pasta, noodles, pizza, beer, and vodka all have a common main ingredient – wheat. However, Namibia is only able to produce 10,3% of this input.

Wheat is the second most consumed staple food after maize in Namibia, yet accounts for the lowest in terms of production, the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) revealed.

Currently, the country faces a wheat shortage of 114 363 tonnes that will be imported to meet local demand.

NAB indicated that the country needs 118 824 tonnes of wheat since last year, however, farms only produce 12 251 tonnes (10,3%).

As a result, from 2020 to this year, using the N$3 782,5 price per tonne, the country will roughly spend N$447,7 million on wheat imports.

The country goes as far as Russia and Poland for most of its wheat imports, as a result of the country’s low production.

According to the NAB, Russia has accounted for 42% of the country’s wheat imports since 2018, because that country’s wheat is cheaper, while Poland accounted for 15% followed by South Africa, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, USA and Argentina.

Despite this deficit in production, the NAB indicated that wheat can be produced in many different types of soils and climatic conditions.

“Detailed research on climate-resilient agriculture practices is highly recommended to exploit the favourable marketing environment created by the NAB,” the agronomic board says.

The NAB has prepared a guide on everything that potential local producers need to know about wheat grain from global, regional and domestic perspectives.

Namibia is a net importer of wheat, and imports about 90% of its wheat requirement annually, presenting an opportunity for increased local production of wheat, says NAB.

According to NAB, all the countries in southern Africa do not produce sufficient wheat to meet their domestic demand, and thus the gap between local production and demand is met through imports.

South Africa has a deficit of 1,4 million tonnes, Angola (700 000t), Mozambique (650 000t), while Madagascar, Mauritius, Botswana and Malawi all need at least 100 000 tonnes of extra wheat.

The constant deficit in Namibia has pushed up the domestic prices of wheat by 15% in the 2020/2021 marketing season, from N$5 220 in 2019/2020 to N$6 0024 in the 2020/2021 season.

“This significant escalation in domestic price is attributed to an increase in global wheat prices, influenced by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on wheat market supply and demand,” says the NAB.

To encourage local production, NAB has introduced a grain marketing scheme to ensure that local producers have a secured market in Namibia.

Local processors have committed, through a mutual agreement, to buy locally produced wheat, and at a price not less than the set minimum.

Additionally, to promote value addition in the country, the Namibian government, through the NAB, is restricting the import on wheat flour.

Thus, only the raw materials and specialised wheat flour can be imported, says NAB, adding that there is a need for Namibia to continuously conduct research trials on different varieties of wheat to find varieties that perform better in the Namibian climate.

Namibia can also increase wheat production by reducing the input cost for wheat production, the board recommends.

The board also encourages crop producers to collectively lobby commercial or development banks to offer reliable and affordable financing for crop production.

According to the board, affordable loans will enable “farmers to be more competitive from a production cost viewpoint”.

Email: erastus@namibian.com.na

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