The Namibia Agricultural Union has described the year 2022 as having been a good one in terms of both livestock and crop production.

It says these good results give hope to farmers in the commercial sector to even do better next year.

As the year 2022 wound up, farmers were starting to count their earnings and losses, as well as looking into the future in anticipation.

The Namibia Agricultural Union Executive Manager Roelie Venter says both the cattle and goat segments of the agriculture sector have been going through a rebuilding phase since the drought of 2019.

Venter is further happy with the crop sector, mostly maize, which recorded good yields, saying this is good for food security in the country.

He, therefore, believes that with good cooperation between commercial and communal farmers, the agriculture sector will continue to grow and reduce urbanization.

Venter pointed to input costs as some factors that affected the sector.

Locust and Food and Mouth Disease outbreaks, poaching, and stock theft are the other challenges facing farmers, says Venter.

He further complained about the import of cheap foreign pork and poultry products as a serious threat to the local producers, which caused prices to dwindle.

The leader of the commercial farming sector, therefore, appealed to all actors in the sector to work together and fully utilize land productively