By:Nghiinomenwa-vali Erastus
By the last quarter of 2022, Namibia agricultural entrepreneurs (livestock and crops) have produced goods worth N$8,3 billion.
Agricultura has increased by almost two billion (N$1,94 billion)compared to 2 years ago.
This is according to the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) Fourth Quarter Agri-Review – 2022 released last month.
NAU researcher, Beata Xulu on average, says that total agricultural production value showed a positive growth of 18.3% during 2022.
Most of the growth was seen in values from the agronomy – wheat and white maize – (54.2%)- in monetary value the agronomy products value increased from N$547,0 million in 2021 to N$843,6 million worth of goods in 2022.
As for the sheep and goats, they are continuing their growth trajectory from 2020.
From 2020 to 2022, the sheep products value has grown by N$323,9 million- recording a 37.4% growth in 2022.
As for the goat products value they have grown from N$116,7 million in 2020 to N$198,1 million by the 4th quarter 2022 goats- growing by 33.2% in 2022.
As for the most exported product, grapes have grown by 34.5%, after a slump in 2021- growing by N$288,6 million.
Grapes are the second most valuable agricultural produce for 2022.
In the forestry sector, the charcoal sector keeps growing as the sector value jumps from N$381,5 million in 2020 to more than half a billion (N$506 million) sector in 2022.
Another sector that has maintained its value is the poultry sector, since 2020, is the poultry sector, which has produced products valued at more than a billion dollars.
Since 2021, the sector has replaced grapes to be the most valuable agri-sector in terms of the value of the products produced.
By the end of the 2022 4th quarter, poultry products produced were valued at N$1,3 billion.
However, after zooming in, NAU highlighted that in value in the broiler and egg sub sectors came mainly from a 7.5% and 18.2% increase in prices, respectively, while broiler production fell from 33 219 in 2021 to 32 835 in 2022.
Eggs produced increased by 13.5% from 497 717 eggs in 2021 to 565 000 eggs in 2022.
The cattle sector which is the most valuable sub sector within agriculture has recorded some slight growth of N$187,9 million between 2021 and 2022 despite recovery in herds.
However, from 2020 to 2022 the sector’s product value increased from N$2, 2 billion to N$2,7 billion.
According to Xulu, the post-drought herd recovery and better producer prices helped growth in cattle, sheep, and goats.
The normal to above-normal rainfall during the 2022 planting season, and the expansion of some irrigated lands resulted in exceptional harvests of agronomy crops, she added.
White maize recorded the biggest harvest ever (97 534 tons) in the history of maize in Namibia, surpassing that of 2021 (90 895 tons) by 7%, NAU assessment shows.
Harvested wheat also showed a record figure of 24 195 tons in 2022 compared to 18 498 tons in 2021.
The average maize price was N$6 639/ton in 2022 compared to N$4 643/tons in 2021, for wheat it was N$8 105/ton in 2022, compared to N$6 757/ton in 2021, and these price improvements contributed significantly to the increase in agronomy production values in 2022.
Grapes harvested from April – Dec 2022 exceeded that of the complete season of 2021 by 16.6% (43 799 tons in 2022, and 37 711 tons in 2021).
Nearly all grapes produced are exported (e.g. 99.5% in 2022, and 99.1% in 2021), the bulletin highlighted.
The grape prices also improved, thus leading to a 34.5% increase in sector production value
The total tonnage of fresh produce harvested between April – Dec 2022 was 53 006 tons, while for the complete season of 2021 was 61 790 tons.
More fresh produce was exported in 2022 (56.3% of total harvest) than in 2021 (35.1% of total harvest), contributing significantly to the 5.3% YoY increase in the production value of fresh produce.
The charcoal sector saw significant increase in value (20.5%), thanks to a 9.5% increase in tonnage produced, from 210 000 tons in 2021 to 230 000 tons in 2022, as well as a 10% increase in prices from N$2000 to N$2 200 per ton.
As for the milk production, it dropped from 23.9 million litres in 2018 to 15.0 million litres in 2021, but the sector stabilised in 2022 with an increase in volume of about 3.8% from the 2021 figures, according to NAU assessment.
Additionally, the milk producer price rose by 1.4%, pushing up production value by 5.3%.
Overall, NAU has also rang the bell on the country’s competitiveness challenges such as high production costs and low-priced products entering the Namibian market, causing producers to slow down production. Email: erastus@thevillager.com.na
N$8,3 billion worth of agri commodities produced in 4Q2022
