Agri production value grows by 18%

Post-drought herd recovery helps growth
White maize recorded the biggest harvest ever - at 97 534 tonnes - in the history of maize in Namibia, the union said.
Ellanie Smit
  • 10 Months Ago
On average, the total agricultural production values showed positive growth of 18.3% during 2022.

According to the Namibian Agricultural Union (NAU), most of the growth was seen in the values of agronomy - wheat and white maize (54.2%), sheep (37.4%), grapes (34.5%), goats (33.2%), cattle (7.5%) and charcoal (20.5%).

The union said post-drought herd recovery and better producer prices have helped growth in cattle, sheep and goats.

Normal to above-normal rainfall during the 2022 planting season, and the expansion of some irrigated lands, resulted in exceptional harvests of agronomy crops, it said.

“White maize recorded the biggest harvest ever (97 534 tonnes) in the history of maize in Namibia, surpassing that of 2021 (90 895 tonnes) by 7%.

Harvested wheat also showed a record figure of 24 195 tonnes in 2022 compared to 18 498 tonnes in 2021.



Grapes

Meanwhile, grapes harvested from April to December last year exceeded that of the complete season of 2021 by 16.6% (43 799 tonnes in 2022 versus 37 711 tonnes in 2021).

According to the NAU, nearly all grapes produced are exported (99.5% in 2022, and 99.1% in 2021).

“The total tonnage of fresh produce harvested between April and December 2022 was 53 006 tonnes, while for the complete season of 2021, it was 61 790 tonnes. 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% year-on-year increase in the production value of fresh produce.”



Charcoal, pork

The NAU added that the charcoal sector saw a significant increase in value (20.5%), thanks to a 9.5% increase in tonnage produced - from 210 000 tonnes in 2021 to 230 000 tonnes in 2022, as well as a 10% increase in prices from N$2 000 to N$2 200 per tonne.

Furthermore, the production value of pork improved marginally (by 0.1%), despite a 2.7% increase in the average pork ceiling price from N$37.91/kg in 2021 to N$38.94/kg in 2022.

The 2.9% drop in the numbers of pigs marketed over the same period pulled down the production value.



Milk, poultry

Milk production dropped from 23.9 million litres in 2018 to 15 million litres in 2021, but the sector stabilised in 2022 with an increase in volume of about 3.8% from the 2021 figures.

“Additionally, the milk producer price rose by 1.4%, pushing up production value by 5.3%.”

The NAU said the estimated growth for poultry (including broilers and eggs) stood at N$1.2 billion in 2021, but increased to N$1.3 billion in 2022 - displaying an increase of about 8.9%.

The growth in value in the broiler and egg subsectors 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.

Overall, competitiveness challenges such as high production costs and low-priced products entering the Namibian market caused producers to slow down production.



Fur industry suffers

The Swakara production value showed a contraction of 73.9% brought about by a decline in the fur industry, spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The challenges in the fur industry have been accelerated by increasing concerns over animal welfare and a shift towards what is perceived as more ethical and sustainable fashion choices.

This, the union said, is in addition to the reduction in consumer spending, particularly on luxury goods such as fur, caused by the pandemic’s global economic downturn and supply chain and international trade disruptions. These factors have resulted in a decline in demand for fur in general and a reduction in prices, causing financial difficulties for producers and stakeholders in the industry.