Namibia President Hage Geingob vowed Monday to push ahead with land redistribution, echoing the government of neighbouring South Africa, where the issue has become a fierce political battleground. 

NAMIBIAN Agronomic Board chairperson Michael Iyambo said the trade performance of the horticulture industry has been increasing over the years, despite the challenges encountered by the industry regarding tied climatic conditions.

While land reform has dominated South Africa’s headlines, it has also emerged as a major polarising issue in Namibia ahead of next year’s national election. Populist pressure, fears around the trajectory of the economy and uncertainty about how the process will be administered in Namibia have raised alarm, particularly among investors.

Smart farming principles have become the focus for some Namibian farmers as predictions point to a drastically changing farming landscape in the years to come as climate change is expected to seriously impact fodder production in Namibia. 

As the year draws to a close with poor prospects of rains, Namibian sheep farmers in the south have all their hopes pinned on a revised and improved sheep exporting scheme early next year.

The impact of climate change continues to have devastating effects on countries across the globe, and Namibia has not been spared.

Rain is the glue that holds Namibia’s agriculture-based economy, especially for subsistence farmers in the semi-arid southern African nation.

Lions in Namibia have turned to hunting seabirds and seals in the face of scarce food resources in the desert landscape, research has found.

In the Aussenkehr Valley of southern Namibia, where early summer temperatures have already reached 40°C and the annual rainfall is about 35mm, vineyards are flourishing on the banks of the Orange River.

WINDHOEK- Namibia yesterday became the first African nation to export beef to People’s Republic of China, when it transported the first 21 tonnes of beef to China the world’s largest consumer market.

Namibia is suffering the worst drought in recent history, with the entire country affected by the dry conditions leaving rangelands barren and parched.

The Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) in cooperation with the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers Union (NECFU) has urgently requested the agriculture minister Alpheus !Naruseb to declare the 2019 drought a national disaster. 

The 2018/19 season has proved to be one of the most difficult seasons for the table grape industry, due to difficult growing conditions and a market flooded with product, leading to lower prices. In spite of a difficult season the ARRA varieties, managed by TopFruit, still received positive feedback from growers and the markets.

 The agriculture and forestry sector recorded its worst quarter since 2013 and agriculture has now spent three consecutive quarters in the red, registering a contraction of 6.7 percent in real value added during the first quarter of 2019 relative to a growth of 0.3 percent recorded during the same period in 2018.  

Namibia plans to import fresh fruits and vegetables from Zimbabwe, trying to close the gap for the country’s demand for fruits and vegetables.

Vibrant rows of neatly lined plants grow on a patch once trampled by the cattle of a large commercial farm run by a family of German descent in Namibia.

After the disappointments of the previous campaign, Namibian table grape producers are upbeat about the new season.

Rhino poaching in Namibia has reduced significantly, to 41 in 2019 compared to the 72 killed in 2018, says the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET).

Namibia has the second largest population of white rhinos in the world after South Africa and, according to NGO Save the Rhino, it holds one-third of the world’s remaining black rhinos.

Rhino poaching in Namibia has fluctuated over the years – from 95 in 2015 to to 60 in 2016, 36 in 2017 and 72 in 2018. These statistics are measured from January to December each year.

Despite the horn comprising mostly of keratin – a protein that makes up your hair and nails – the demand for rhino horn continues to be high in East Asia where it is considered a medicine for multiple ailments, and is also prized by business elites as trinkets because of its rarity.

While cracking down on rhino poaching, Namibia is also lobbying against the rules that govern the global trade in endangered species, after other countries rejected proposals to relax restrictions on legal hunting and exporting of its white rhinos. Namibia wants to allow more trophy hunting of rhinos and export of live animals, arguing that the funds it would raise would help it to protect the species, an argument rejected in August of this year by countries that are party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). For further information about this topic read this opinion post by a conservation specialist justifying the hunting of black rhinos.

Namibia is a semi-arid to arid country, despite these conditions, the sustainable production of crops, fruits and vegetables remains key to sustain the food requirements of the nation.