The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources says the majority of resettled farmers in the Omaruru and Karibib areas are putting in extra effort to become commercial despite water problems.
The committee visited about 10 farmers resettled by the government in the Erongo Region to assess their success and challenges.
Most resettlement farms visited at Karibib and Omaruru by the parliamentarians are run by women.
Ombara Manasse Zeraua from the Zeraua Traditional Authority is among the 58 farmers resettled by the government in Erongo.
The traditional leader, who was resettled eight years ago, says the farm located along the Karibib-Omaruru road is busy with livestock and horticulture production.
There are plans to expand operations because the land, he says, is fertile and all 12 boreholes are not a problem.
“I’m very lucky that my wife has that passion and pays so much attention to agriculture. Right now, we have just harvested our garden there. We have now seedlings that are still in the garage there waiting for this severe weather to go, and then we go back to plant, and this time, all things being equal, we want to plant more and expand. That’s our intention. We can also market our milk. We intend to buy milk cows, just to start with a few of them to see how we progress into the dairy.”
Other farmers want to add horticulture to their livestock production; however, they say bush encroachment, stock theft, poaching, and water problems are hampering such plans.
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