Since Namibia's independence, the government has, through the land reform program, sought to bring about equal land distribution to correct past colonial social inequalities.

Our team in Keetmanshoop spoke to one of the government land reform program beneficiaries, Jeremia Van Neel, who has made strides in farming since he became a beneficiary in 2016.

Although some resettlement farms the government has allocated since independence have not been optimally utilized, Van Neel maintains his farm has grown in leaps and bounds.
 
He attributes his success to his willingness to farm sustainably in line with sustainable agricultural processes.

Van Neel farms with cattle, sheep, and goats as well as vegetables and fruits to supplement his livestock farming income.

He has three employees.

"I am not a commercial farmer, but this was a commercial farm managed by a human being like myself, so I must try to follow in his footsteps and say, 'Okay, you leave this farm on the standard, I must keep or improve it.' So it is just the principle of willingness, what you are trying to do, what you are trying to protect the image of yourselves and what you are trying to do to protect the image of your government, that's all, it is willingness."

Van Neel appeals to the government to review the resettlement criteria.

"The principles of allocating land to the so-called farmers; the principal for me in person was not good; the scrutiny of the process looked for who was the person that applied for that farm; the story is when you applied for land, let's call it resettlement land, the form or the policy is saying from zero up to what number you can even apply to have a land; that in itself is not good."

Commenting on why commercial farmers have an edge over resettlement farmers, Van Neel had this to say: "What the government, the colonial government, has done to the grandfathers and how they pumped resources to them, e.g., by giving 800 Karakoel sheep, material for that house to start, fencing material, what, what, so the starting speed of that so-called commercial farmer, the colonial farmer, was very fast, so if my father was a millionaire of 10 million, and he passed, and I start with that 10-million, there is no loan for me, I have no reason to suffer."

Van Neel says there is a need for resettled farmers and government officials to collectively find a turnaround strategy to push for productivity that will contribute to the country's GDP. 

He proposed holding a national conference on resettlement.