THE Ministry of Lands and Resettlement bought 13 farms equivalent to 62 110 hectares of land at a combined cost of N$73,3 million during the last financial year.

Of the targeted 99 families, 71 were resettled on the acquired farms.

This was revealed by the Minister of Lands and Resettlement, Alpheus !Naruseb, during his annual address to the ministry's staff.

He said the current pace of acquiring land has a negative impact on the overall performance of the ministry.

"In this regard I appeal to the chairperson of the Land Reform and Advisory Commission to look into this issue, discuss and engage stakeholders and the farming communities in the regions where land is forthcoming with a view of providing information and addressing areas of apprehension that inhibit the offer of land from those regions," !Naruseb said.

Last year Government collected land tax of N$36, 8 million from farmers, which was deposited into the Land Acquisition and Development Fund, bringing the total money collected since the inception of the land tax programme to N$150 million, !Naruseb revealed.

!Naruseb highlighted water shortages as the main challenge faced by resettlement farmers, and said the ministry spent N$19,5 million on repairing water infrastructure at resettlement farms last year.

As part of the ministry's post-resettlement support to farmers, in the past ten months 48 resettled farmers received funding of N$2,7 million from the Agribank loan scheme.