National Policy on Subdivision and Consolidation of Agricultural Land.

This National Policy on Consolidation and Subdivision of Agricultural Land is guided by the following principles: a) Upholding and maintaining the welfare of the people by raising and maintaining an acceptable level of nutrition and standard of living; b) Increasing food security through commercialization of agricultural productions to contributing towards poverty eradication and vulnerability; c) Maintaining the quality, productivity and resilience of agricultural lands through the conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecosystems; d) Improving natural resource conservation, management and sustainable use; e) Enhancing sustainable agricultural production contributing increased volumes of products and values of agricultural exports; f) Increasing agriculture sector contribution to high and sustained economic growth, employment creation, increased income equality and industrial development; g) Promoting agricultural entrepreneurship to enable committed and capable small scale farmers to becoming commercial producers; h) Harmonizing sector policies and legislation governing the use, management and administration of agricultural land in the country through effective policy and legislation enforcement (pag. 3).
The Policy Vision is to have a judiciously and safely used, managed and sustained economically viable agricultural land. Its Mission is to guide, prevent and eliminate the fragmentation of agricultural lands into degraded unproductive land units unable to sustain rural livelihoods, natural resource base, ecological systems and socio-economic growth. The final Goal aims to ensure agricultural land which is not fragmented that will lead to socio-economic, and ecologically sustainable land units (pag. 4).
The key objectives of the Policy are: a) being an instrument for the conservation of natural rangelands; b) preserving and promoting resilience of agricultural lands to natural climatic and man-made shocks such as recurrent and frequent droughts or overuse by maintaining essential ecological processes and habitats; c) preventing agricultural land from diminishing into uneconomical and ecologically non-sustainable land units; d) preventing specific high potential soils to be utilized for non-agricultural purposes (pag. 4). Due to the climatic conditions of the country, livestock production represents the most appropriate land use type, suited to the natural agro-ecological and climatic conditions in Namibia. The strategy is therefore to base minimum agricultural land unit sizes on the most critical agricultural enterprise which is extensive livestock production within the confines of the potential land carrying capacity under natural conditions. However, alternative agricultural land use types, such as aquaculture and horticulture will be considered in allocating smaller agricultural land size in exceptional situations (pag. 6).
This Policy will ensure that: Subdivision of agricultural land is prevented; Advantages and benefits of land consolidation for agricultural entrepreneurs are promoted; Overarching framework for harmonization of legal instruments, development plans and strategic interventions related to the administration, management and use of agricultural land is provided; Coherence of legal and administrative framework in pursuit of agricultural production systems contributing to economic growth and attainment of long-term development vision for the country is enabled; Economically viable agricultural land units where the net income will ensure decent livelihoods and development on the farm is encouraged; and, Sustainable management and preservation of pristine rangelands for increased biodiversity, optimal agricultural output and decent living standards for the people of Namibia is attained (pag. 5).