Find Agriculture expertise in Namibia
Agriculture, together with forestry and fisheries, contributes 10% of Namibia’s GDP (2010) Agriculture accounts for 47.1% of land use (2009) and 16% of employment (2008). Livestock ranching is a major commercial farming activity. Other agricultural activities, both commercial and subsistence, include the farming of sorghum, peanuts, millet and grapes, Namibia’s principal crops. There is widespread subsistence farming, with 70% of the population living in rural areas, of which 60% live in the north of the country. A cordon fence, designed to contain the spread of animal disease, separates northern regions where the majority of subsistence farmers live from richer commercial livestock ranchers in the southern regions. The EU, with which Namibia enjoys a reciprocal trade relationship under an Economic Partnership Agreement, is the major export destination of agricultural produce, mainly meat and grapes. The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry is responsible for the sector at a federal level.
The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report (2012-2013) ranks Namibia 37th out of 144 countries in terms of agricultural policy costs with a score of 4.3 out of 7, above the world average of 3.9. The Ministry is committed to supporting the agricultural industry to ensure sustainable socio-economic development for Namibia in the future. It runs several schemes to this end, including the rural water supply programmes and services which focus on completing boreholes and properly managing water supplies; the Integrated Initiative in Support of Urban and Peri-Urban Horticulture Development which is concerned with providing access to water and horticulture produce; and Mushroom Promotion and Production which promotes fungi as an alternative source of nutrition and income.