Chamwe Kaira
The government plans to purchase 25 000 hectares of commercial farmland each year between the 2026/2027 and 2028/2029 financial years to support resettlement and agricultural development.
The land will be used for the National Resettlement Programme, generational farm workers, landless farmers along agricultural corridors, as well as women and youth participants.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reform’s medium-term programme, the land purchases will also support irrigation projects such as the Neckartal Dam scheme and other agricultural developments. Officials said progress will depend on the availability of funding for land procurement.
During the 2024/2025 financial year, the ministry acquired eleven farms covering 41 291.5681 hectares at a cost of about N$115.1 million.
Some of the land was allocated to the Neckartal Dam irrigation initiative and programmes supporting generational farmworkers.
Resettlement efforts continued during the same period. Seven beneficiaries, six individuals and one legal entity, were placed on four resettlement farms.
The farms include the remaining extent of Farm Kouwater No. 209 in the Hardap Region, Ombindi Karambi No. 155 in the Kunene Region, Farm Omkeer No. 204 in the Otjozondjupa Region and Portion 2 of Farm Neu-Schwaben No. 148 in the Erongo Region.
The ministry also continued work to strengthen land administration and tenure security. A total of 7 212 communal land rights were registered in several regions, including Ohangwena, Omusati and Oshikoto.
In addition, 175 landholding titles were issued in Outapi as part of the Flexible Land Tenure Scheme.
The ministry also supported the registration of Flexible Land Tenure Scheme blocks in Otjiwarongo and Mariental and appointed surveyors to carry out land surveys in Lüderitz, Karibib and Kamanjab.
Infrastructure development formed part of the programme. Eight boreholes were drilled on small-scale commercial farms in the Kavango East Region, with five confirmed suitable for installation.
Civil works for water supply projects in parts of the Otjozondjupa Region were also completed.
The ministry also held workshops to review flexible land tenure legislation, carried out internal surveys of 11 flexible land tenure blocks in Otjiwarongo and supported the signing of 555 land transfer contracts.
