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Namibia: Border Opens for Country Maize
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New Era (Windhoek)
7 November 2007
Posted to the web 7 November 2007
Petronella Sibeene
Windhoek
The closed border period between Namibia and Zambia opened last month with Namibia's largest miller, Namib Mills importing thousands of tonnes of maize from that country.
It is the first time that Namibia is importing maize from Zambia in huge quantities following Zambia's bumper harvest last season.
From May to September each year, Namibia suspends imports of crop produce such as maize to enable local millers to purchase and use local produce. The period opens in October.
Frans Meyer, Namib Mills Operations Manager, said, about 800 tonnes of maize were imported from Zambia. The company intends to bring in between 3000 and 4000 tonnes from one of Zambia's smallest towns - Kalomo in the Southern Province.
Namib Mills usually imports about 60 percent of white maize from South Africa while 80 percent of wheat comes from Europe and the United States of America.
Established in 1982, Namib Mills has been an integral part of revolutionising the local food industry.
Before Namib Mills, Namibia would import all maize meal, wheat flour, pasta and animal feed in trainloads from South Africa.
Given Namibia's semi-arid state, farmers are challenged to devise new methods of farming that will allow them to intensify crop production.
"Our country has limited resources to produce food. The challenge which future generations of farmers have to face is to intensify crop production, to become precision farmers and be highly innovative," said founder of Namib Mills, Pieter Van Niekerk.
The most notable Namib Mills brands are Top Score and Pasta Polana.
Ricky Lilami from the Board of Directors at the Namibian Agronomic Board in Caprivi told New Era yesterday that the borders especially Wenela are open and about 2000 tonnes of maize has been brought into the country from Sesheke.
In light of the poor harvest during the last farming season and the drought sweeping through Namibia, the country's millers face a deficit hence the imports.
Although Lilami could not state the margin of the deficit, he said, "There is a deficit. Production cannot run from local produce. Our production is very low compared to the consumption."
He added that for the past three weeks, trucks loaded with bags of maize have crossed the borders, mainly off-loading at Otavi.
The importation of maize from Zambia comes after the Zambian High Commissioner to Namibia, Griffin Nyirongo, offered Namibia the opportunity to import maize from Zambia. The High Commissioner, during Zambia's 43rd independence anniversary last month, announced that the Namibian Government had accepted the offer.
Nyirongo assured a continued consolidation of economic relations between the two countries.
With the anticipated creation of the Southern African Development community Free Trade Area 2008, trade between the two countries especially in the area of agricultural produce is likely to grow.
Last year, Namibia's exports to Zambia totalled U.S.$6.86 million while Zambia's exports to Namibia were valued at U.S.$9.58 million.
"Zambia is poised to regain her position as a major copper producer and processor. Zambia is equally poised to become the grain basket of the Southern African region", Nyirongo said.
Apart from maize, potential Zambian products that can be imported by Namibia include refined sugar, chitenge material, canned vegetables, fruit and other cereals, seeds, cassava, molasses, vegetables, cotton, maheu drinks and UTH milk.
Early this year, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Dr Nickey Iyambo, and his Zambian counterpart, Ben Kapita, met in Katima Mulilo to discuss ways in which the two countries could boost food exports and address food insecurities.
The consultations were based on the Namibia/Zambia agriculture venture proposed by Zambian President, Levy Mwanawasa and Founding President, Sam Nujoma, five years ago.
In 2002, the two leaders agreed on bi-lateral economic co-operation and that ministers of agriculture establish a joint technical committee that would investigate possible joint ventures in food production.
Mwanawasa proposed that the project be established on 10000 hectares in the Kaoma district but the Namibian Government wanted the project moved to the Sesheke-Senanga area near Namibia's military bases close to the border. Nujoma said locating the project near the Namibian border would ease the movement of heavy equipment from Namibia to the project site in Zambia.
The Zambian government then identified 5000 hectares in Sesheke across the Zambezi River.
The area will be used for the cultivation of maize, wheat, groundnuts, sunflower and tropical fruit such as mangoes and guavas.
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Namibia and Zambia will have a 50-50 share in the project.
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