THERE has been a good response to a Ministry of Environment and Tourism initiative to help emerging commercial farmers on resettlement farms or in communal areas who want to embark on game farming.
Dr Fanuel Demas of the Ministry’s Directorate of Scientific Support Services told The Namibian that a number of farmers have applied to the ‘Wildlife on Loan’ scheme. He could not say exactly how many people had applied, because applications are being submitted to three points.The deadline is the end of this month.The Ministry said earlier that there were emerging commercial farmers interested in stocking their farms with wildlife, but who lacked the necessary capital to buy breeding stock.The scheme is aimed at encouraging such farmers, since the Ministry believes that wildlife-based land use is a safer bet in drought-prone Namibia than focusing on a single crop or type of livestock.Through the scheme, the Ministry will provide recipients with breeding stock of zebra, springbok, gemsbok, ostrich and eland.The same number of animals has to be given back to the Ministry once a farmer’s game population has grown.He could not say exactly how many people had applied, because applications are being submitted to three points.The deadline is the end of this month.The Ministry said earlier that there were emerging commercial farmers interested in stocking their farms with wildlife, but who lacked the necessary capital to buy breeding stock.The scheme is aimed at encouraging such farmers, since the Ministry believes that wildlife-based land use is a safer bet in drought-prone Namibia than focusing on a single crop or type of livestock.Through the scheme, the Ministry will provide recipients with breeding stock of zebra, springbok, gemsbok, ostrich and eland.The same number of animals has to be given back to the Ministry once a farmer’s game population has grown.
