The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Land Reform, Mac Albert Hengari, has emphasised that land reform in Namibia is not just about land redistribution, citing that effective land utilisation will be a key focus during his tenure.
During an interview with nbc News, Hengari emphasised that land reform is rooted in addressing the historical injustices of dispossession following the 1904 genocide by the Germans.
He noted that this history has left the question of access to land and its effective utilisation unresolved.
Hengari also pointed out that communal land, which constitutes about 40% of the country's landmass and accommodates about 60% of the population, requires attention.
He stressed the need to ensure that people derive benefits from the allocated land.
"Land reform is, of course, a political football in a sense, but the way I look at land reform is in two dimensions. One is that you have a historical injustice related to the expropriation of land, and we have the former President Hage Geingob, who instituted the ancestral land commission following the second Land Conference, and he tasked me with looking at operationalising the recommendations that came from the conference. But it's not just access to land at the heart of land reform; it's also the utilisation of that land. And it's that balance that we need to address in the land reform programme going forward. If we are to achieve the vision that the president has set and the mandate that the Namibian people gave to the Swapo Party."
One of his key priorities is to ensure water security and affordability for the next five years, especially in the face of drought.
"Water is important not just for human life but also for industry. We cannot attract investment, whether it's domestic or foreign, if we do not have that input accessible and affordable. So we are going to make sure that we have water security and water availability at an affordable price."
The Agriculture Minister stressed that interventions to support farmers both financially and technically are needed to improve productivity.