Namibia should increase investment in higher-yielding horticultural seeds, water availability and basic farmer training to boost production and competitiveness in international markets and also take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
This was said by High Economic Intelligence (HEI) in an analysis of the country’s horticulture industry in June.
According to the report, the country’s economy is heavily reliant on imported horticultural products, but providing farmers with affordable credit, subsidised ploughing, weeding services and government support (fertiliser subsidies) can also enable them to upscale production.
“This will also motivate a significant number of producers to enter the horticulture industry, which could increase production and lead to food security for Namibia,” said HEI in an analysis released by economist Turimuye Uandara.
The Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) has protected the country’s nascent horticultural sector against foreign competition by periodically closing the border to the importation of certain crops when they are available locally and imposing the market share promotion scheme, currently at 47%. NAB chief executive Fidelis Mwazi says this is to give local producers an opportunity to grow.
The implementation of the scheme is a growth-at-home strategy to develop the sector by stimulating horticultural production and promoting local sales of locally produced fresh fruit and vegetables through encouraging importers such as wholesalers, catering companies and retailers to source locally.
Namibia’s horticultural products consist of specially controlled products such as gem squash, beetroot, sweet potato, potato, butternut, pumpkin, cabbage, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, green/coloured pepper, carrot, watermelons, sweet melon and sweetcorn.
These are produced in the commercial and communal areas under irrigation, but mainly in the Karst (Otjozondjupa region), Central, Orange River, Kavango, North Central and the Zambezi region.
The most consumed horticultural products in Namibia are potatoes followed by onions and carrots, says HEI. According to NAB, this year, about 96% of Namibia’s fruit requirements are imported, with only 4% produced locally.
The Namibia Statistics Agency says N$2,9 billion worth of horticultural products were imported into Namibia last year, with the highest value of imported horticultural products recorded in September at N$362 million and the lowest value was in July at N$149 million.
HEI says the decline in the importation of horticultural products for that period was attributed to the import restrictions NAB imposed on products such as beetroot, butternut, cabbage, carrot, coloured pepper, onions and sweet potato, because the country had enough local products.
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