Farmers Struggling In Namibia As Inputs Increase

Farmers in Namibia will have to pay more to sustain their livestock until the next rainy season.

The Namibian Agricultural Union has said that the agri-inflation rate has increased by 4.4% year on year which has driven up the costs on inputs.

The cost of maintaining livestock has predominantly increased due to the price of feed which has been drastically affected by adverse weather conditions across the country. The white maize sector anticipates a harvest of about 35,530 tonnes which is 37% less than the 2018/19 harvest.

They also showed that with the livestock mortality rate increasing, farmers are expected to destock to prevent financial losses.

Some farmers are destocking more than they did in 2018, as shown by the number of lean cows that were being auctioned.

A total of 79 334 cattle were auctioned, and of that number, about 21.4% were cows.

An increase in the sale of cows reduces the future reproductive capacity of the cattle industry, which means that farmers will struggle to restock next year.

The cost of feed is not only hitting hard on the beef farmers, but also the dairy farmers, whose total expenses increased by 23% year-on-year. The feed costs contributed 32.8% of the overall increase in dairy farming.