Photo: Contributed
ERTF commends Government’s world-class veterinary response — and proposes an equal economic partnership
Agriculture feeds Namibia
Agriculture is not a sideline to Namibia’s economy — it carries rural jobs, national food security and the NDP6 agenda. NDP6 commits the country to grow the livestock and crops value chains from 4.6% to at least 8.0% of GDP by 2030, to raise food self-production from 60% to 80% and agro-processing from 7.5% to 10%. The stakes are measured in livelihoods: agriculture supports about 70% of Namibians directly or indirectly, the livestock sector sustains some 45 000 direct jobs and 12 000 more in processing and exports, and beef earned over N$2.1 billion in foreign exchange in 2025. FMD is killing businesses, not livestock — and it puts every one of those shared targets at risk. Since the outbreak was confirmed in the Karasburg district on 23 September 2026, the first in Namibia’s FMD-free zone in some 60 years, movement restrictions have stalled auctions, exports and cash flows, for communal, emerging and commercial farmers alike and for every business beyond the farm gate. Exports to South Africa, the European Union, China and the United States are suspended. The strain is already reaching prices: annual inflation rose to 5.6% in October 2026 (NSA), driven mainly by transport costs, while food inflation quickened to 4.8%. With production, auctions and trade stalled, the sector’s crisis risks adding supply-side pressure to the fuel, transport and input-cost increases already squeezing farmers and consumers. Namibia’s own market absorbs only 30–40% of the meat we produce: without exports, the value chain cannot stand.
An equal response
The Directorate of Veterinary Services has contained the outbreak with measures, coordination and commitment that are world-class: the outbreak was detected through routine surveillance, traced swiftly and confined to the ||Kharas region, allowing movement north of the veterinary cordon fence to resume within days. Government and its veterinary teams deserve the country’s recognition. The ERTF now proposes that the recovery be pursued in the same spirit of partnership: relief keeps businesses alive, but only markets bring them back to life. We therefore encourage Government to engage South Africa on a bilateral trade arrangement as a matter of urgency. This is necessary even before FMD-free status is regained from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and we pledge industry’s full support at the table, aiming solely to help Government reach practical solutions quickly. South Africa has been Namibia’s principal market for decades and is the lowest-hanging export market. Resumed exports of weaners, sheep and goats, and meat will restart cash flow to the primary sector, save rural jobs and curb the drift to towns. We equally welcome support to capacitate exporters and our premium market-oriented abattoirs while alternative-market protocols are fast-tracked.
The 2026/2027 livestock breeding season lies ahead, and auctions and animal movement should resume under veterinary surveillance. Some areas of Namibia still have good rangeland conditions and could carry more animals, sustaining the larger herd numbers needed for future marketing. Government-owned breeding stations, quarantine facilities and feedlots may also have capacity for additional livestock ad interim to facilitate trade flow. It is therefore imperative that Government and industry together use these opportunities and resources to overcome the current crisis, while preparing for the short- to medium-term production season and working towards long-term solutions. The FMD Support Fund stands as a tangible testament to this partnership between Government and industry.
Costs pile up
Farmers describe the same reality: costs that never stop. “A market-ready animal does not stop eating simply because the market is closed,” Graidi Goeieman told Agri Monitor, calling FMD “not only an animal-health problem” but “an agricultural, economic, employment and national food-security issue.” From Aminuis, Metarere Ngeenguno fears most for communal and small-scale farmers without cash reserves, with El Niño looming: “The short-term income is not worth risking the entire livestock industry.” Engagement on the ground is constructive: “officials were helpful and efficient when I needed assistance,” farmer Vazirckumwe Vincent Pack said of Veterinary Services. The ERTF likewise supports the Ministry’s call for livestock to be tagged, registered and confined. Compliance is our shared contribution to disease control. The Bank of Namibia has played its part: Determination BID-42, in force since 26 October for 24 months, allows repayment moratoria of up to 24 months, restructuring and recovery financing, including cover over the El Niño hardship and value-chain businesses, not only farmers. But margins already squeezed by high input and fuel costs erode with every idle month and the pressure is dated: the agricultural minimum wage rises from N$14 to N$18 per hour on 1 January 2027, an 80% increase on the N$10 of January 2025, while the regional climate outlook (SARCOF-33) favours below-normal rainfall from October 2026 to March 2027.
Prepare, together
The outbreak shows how much Government and farming have in common: both lose when preparedness must be improvised. Namibia has moved from crisis to crisis — the 2015/16 El Niño drought, the 2019 drought, COVID-19, the 2020/21 FMD outbreaks in the northern communal areas, the 2024 drought, and now FMD in the south — each time responding ad hoc. The moment is right to build a standing, systematic national preparedness system together, and there are precedents and neighbours to learn from. After earlier outbreaks in the north, deboning and commodity-based trade protocols allowed beef from those areas to reach South Africa — proof that science-based arrangements can keep trade alive. Botswana, fighting the same disease across the border, offers a model: Councillor Kealeboga Gaebuse of Charleshill proposed direct lines between veterinary offices either side of Mamuno, joint border-fence inspection, pre-agreed emergency
vaccines, and protocols so disease-free zones and compartments keep trading. “Prevention costs millions, but outbreaks cost billions,” he noted. NAU president Thinus Pretorius puts it in Namibian terms: FMD “seldom kills a beast, but it easily destroys a farming business.” The NAU pursues three parallel tracks — keep trade moving at home under strict veterinary supervision, open alternative markets now, and regain FMD freedom; free status, Pretorius cautions, is “the starting point, not the finish line”, because each importing country decides for itself when to buy again. The region is also changing: FMD has been reported in several southern African countries this year, and South Africa is vaccinating a large share of its national herd.
The ERTF further welcomes an informed national dialogue. We must move away from government-only type of solutions, towards a tripartite situation where Government, scientists and industry together come up with systemic solutions. The ERTF welcomes debate on whether “FMD-free without vaccination” remains the most sustainable long-term strategy and stands ready to contribute. With agriculture already fragile and the wider Namibian economy under strain, the country can barely absorb one FMD outbreak; a second could prove the final straw.
What must happen now
The veterinary response has protected the national herd; an equal partnership can now protect the businesses. The ERTF proposes that Government, private sector with focus on the agriculture industry, and citizens work together to:
- Engage South Africa urgently on a bilateral arrangement, with industry supporting Government at the
- Fast-track export protocols for alternative markets, while livestock exporters and export approved abattoirs are capacitated to use
- Government as a regulator and facilitator alike is urged to open trade channels through protocols and find markets for meat and meat products from the Northern Communal Areas (NCA). The LLPBN should support this.
- Strengthen the Livestock and Livestock Products Board of Namibia (LLPBN) to align the Directorate of Veterinary Services (official, State-run veterinary inspection and certification), the Directorate of Forestry (bush-harvesting permits and proof of compliance with the European Union Deforestation Regulation) and the Board’s own roles as permit office and supporter of rangeland restoration, so that exports meet both sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements and environmental, social and governance standards (ESG).
- Help affected borrowers access BID-42 relief quickly and
- The partners, including the social partners, in agriculture should urgently redesign the agricultural wage framework so that it values in-kind benefits, such as housing, food rations and grazing rights, at fair market value; introduces a separate entry-level wage tier; and sets a clear, predictable formula for future increases. This will protect jobs on farms while keeping labour costs manageable.
- Convene an informed national dialogue on Namibia’s long-term FMD status and control
- Co-building a permanent, systematic national preparedness system to limit the scale of
- Activate recurring drought, disaster and/or climate change preparedness now — fodder, water and destocking plans — g. on looming El Niño effect based on the SARCOF-33 forecast, not after the disaster.
About the ERTF: The Presidential Task Force on Economic Recovery (ERTF) was commissioned by H.E. Dr Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on 1 December 2025 to help unlock growth, strengthen investment, support innovation and expand opportunities for young people. The ERTF was created based on NamPPF I recommendations. Its 23 members are drawn from government, the private sector and civil society. The ERTF submitted its first report on economic recovery to the President on 31 March 2026. Presidential directives followed, and progress on their implementation was reported by 31 August 2026. The Task Force remains engaged in advancing economic recovery and transformation under the 8th Administration.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this release are those of the ERTF and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the institutions from which its members are drawn. While the ERTF provides its views and advice to Government, its activities and advice are based on voluntary service and are not remunerated. The Office of the President, through the National Planning Commission (NPC) and NIPDB, provides secretarial services to the ERTF.
