Urgent need to relieve land degradation affected communities

There is a need to relieve pressure on communities experiencing overcrowding of livestock and land degradation, hence the government’s commitment to protect resettlement is a fundamental aspect of social justice.

According to Erongo Governor, Neville Andre Itope, there is a collective belief that if the above aspects are improved in the newly approved Resettlement Policy of 2023, the land reform programme will deliver the desired results.

Itope was speaking at the one-day Erongo Regional Consultative Meeting on the Review of the Resettlement Criteria under the Resettlement Policy of 2023 in Swakopmund on Wednesday.

The meeting was aimed at addressing the challenges and finding practical solutions for the equitable resettlement of the people. It also aims to review and refine the existing national resettlement criteria to address any gaps or challenges that may be hindering its effectiveness.

‘Our dispossessed communities are calling for accelerated land delivery, and the youth is calling to be allocated land to drive economic development.

On the other hand, our national interest is also to promote and empower women, marginalised people, vulnerable groups, and to continue the integration of veterans into a productive society,’ the governor noted.

The National Resettlement Policy of 2001 was developed with the aim of making the beneficiaries self-reliant in terms of food production, self-employment, and income-generating skills.

The policy was, however, deemed ineffective in addressing the issue of land redistribution, especially given the lack of its review since its inception.

Itope, therefore, urged attendees of the workshop to also ensure that at the end of the gathering, they have aligned the criteria to cater for dispossessed communities, youth and women, marginalized groups, and generational farm workers, among others, in line with the spirit of the second National Land Conference.

Director of Land Reform and Chairperson of the Resettlement Criteria Committee in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Nangolo Petrus Canisius, said the policy is a legal document that requires inputs from the public in every democratic country.

‘The call to review the implementation also comes as a response to queries raised during the first and second National Land Conferences. Additionally, the population has also grown since then,’ he noted.
(NAMPA)
IB/HP/EK

(NAMPA)