Land, Environment and Development Project LEGAL ASSISTANCE CenTre Livelihoods after land reform Namibia country report Wolfgang Werner Willem Odendaal Livelihoods after Land Reform: Namibia country report2010 (2010) ● 1 © Land, Environment and Development Project, Legal Assistance Centre, 2010 All rights reserved. This publication can be reproduced and distributed in whole or in part, with prior permission from and due acknowledgement of the publisher. Publisher’s contact details: 4 Körner Street, Windhoek P.O. Box 604, Windhoek, Namibia Tel. 061-223356 Fax 061-234953 Email: [email protected] Website: www.lac.org.na Printed and bound by John Meinert Printing (Pty) Ltd in Windhoek. Electronic versions of this publication and two accompanying policy briefs are posted on the LAC website (downloads free of charge). 2ISBN ● Livelihoods 978-99945-61-09-4 after land reform: Namibia country report (2010) ConTenTS Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................................................................. v Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................................................... vi Section A BACKGROUND ON THE STUDY AND LAND REFORM POLICY Map of the study area ................................................................................................................................................................. 1 1 InTroduCTION ................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Objectives of the study ...................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Research methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 4 2 LAND reform AND poVerTY: NATIONAL polICY CONTEXT .......... 9 2.1 Rural poverty in Namibia .................................................................................................................................. 9 2.2 The politics of poverty and land reform ................................................................................................14 2.3 National agrarian structure and trends .................................................................................................18 2.4 Land reform and rural development policies .................................................................................... 23 2.5 Farm planning and ‘viability’ ....................................................................................................................... 23 2.5.1 Group farms .................................................................................................................................................. 23 2.5.2 Small-scale commercial farms ............................................................................................................. 25 2.6 Viability ...................................................................................................................................................................... 26 2.7 Beneficiary elections criteria ....................................................................................................................... 37 2.8 Land acquisition and allocation ................................................................................................................. 40 2.9 Unauthorised land occupations ................................................................................................................. 44 2.10 Institutional framework governing resettlement .......................................................................... 45 2.11 Frameworks for interaction between state and civil society .................................................. 48 3 REGIONAL CONTEXTS ............................................................................................................................... 51 3.1 Hardap .........................................................................................................................................................................51 3.1.1 Land redistribution .................................................................................................................................. 53 3.2 Omaheke ....................................................................................................................................................................54 3.2.1 Land redistribution .................................................................................................................................. 55 Livelihoods after Land Reform: Namibia country report (2010) ● i Section B The ImpACTS of LAnd reform on LIVelIhoodS IN NAMIBIA 4 AffIrmATIVE ACTION LOAN SCHEME (AALS) ....................................................... 58 4.1 Characteristics of beneficiaries ....................................................................................................................58 4.1.1 Social categories of beneficiaries ....................................................................................................... 58 4.1.2 Motivation for buying a commercial farm .....................................................................................60 4.1.3 AALS farmers’ relationships with pre-settlement homes ...................................................... 62 4.2 Production systems and output types / ‘productivity’ .................................................................62 4.2.1 Production systems .................................................................................................................................. 63 4.2.2 Marketing ....................................................................................................................................................... 65 4.2.3 Diversification ..............................................................................................................................................66 4.2.4 Skills ..................................................................................................................................................................68 4.2.5 Finances .......................................................................................................................................................... 69 4.2.6 Drought .......................................................................................................................................................... 70 4.3 Typology of livelihood strategies in relation to land reform ...................................................72 4.4 Livelihood trajectories ......................................................................................................................................72 4.4.1 The ‘ideal’ trajectory ................................................................................................................................ 73 4.4.2 The ‘cyclical’ trajectory ............................................................................................................................ 75 4.4.3 The ‘part-time’ trajectory ....................................................................................................................... 77 4.4.4 The ‘broekskeur en vasbyt’ trajectory ................................................................................................80 4.5 Evaluating outcomes ..........................................................................................................................................82 5 FArm UNIT RESETTlemenT SCheme (FURS) ..........................................................85 5.1 Characteristics of beneficiaries and household composition ..................................................85 5.1.1 Social categories of beneficiaries ....................................................................................................... 85 5.1.2 Motivation for resettlement .................................................................................................................90 5.1.3 Settlers’ relationships with pre-settlement homes ................................................................... 92 5.1.4 Settlers’ social relations and networks ............................................................................................ 92 5.2 Production systems and output types / ‘productivity’ ................................................................94 5.2.1 Farm sizes and tenure ..............................................................................................................................94 5.2.2 Livestock farming ...................................................................................................................................... 95 5.2.3 Production costs and gross incomes ................................................................................................99 5.2.4 Constraints on productivity ................................................................................................................ 101 5.2.5 Marketing .....................................................................................................................................................104 5.2.6 Diversification ............................................................................................................................................106