Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Sector, Q2 2023, Namibia

Background

The agriculture, fishing, and forestry sector in Namibia remains crucial for reducing poverty, creating jobs, and making sure there is enough food. In 2022, real value added for ‘agriculture, fishing, and forestry’ recorded a growth of 2.6% when compared to a growth of 1.3% noted in the previous year. Livestock farming and ‘fishing and fish processing on board’ were the main drivers in the sector with improved growth rates of 1.2% and 2.3% during 2022 compared to a negative growth of 3.6% and a positive growth of 1.9% registered in the preceding year, respectively.

Analysis

The country’s export earnings from commodities in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors amounted to N$ 6.2 billion whereas the import bill stood at N$ 3.4 billion. Fish products brought in N$4.1 billion in Q2 2023, up from N$3.2 billion in Q2 2022. However, the cost of importing fish products in the same period decreased to N$173.3 million from N$274.1 million in 2022. This translated into a 36.8 monthly decline.

Fisheries Products

During the period under review, horse mackerel was the most commonly caught fish, with 44,548 metric tons landed. Hake came second with 33,816 metric tons, and Monk was third with 1,825 metric tons. In Q2 2023, N$4.1 billion worth of fish and aquatic creatures were exported, compared to N$3.2 billion in Q2 2022. Spain was the top destination for these products, accounting for 36.6% of exports (mostly frozen hake fillets), followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo at 15.4% (mostly frozen mackerel), and Zambia at 14.3% (mostly horse mackerel).

Imports of fish and aquatic creatures were valued at N$173.3 million in Q2 2023, down from N$274.1 million in Q2 2022. These products mainly came from the Falkland Islands (mostly frozen cuttlefish and squid) at 65.8%, South Africa (mostly hake) at 20.2%, and Spain (mostly sardines) at 4.5%.

Livestock Auction

The total number of animals auctioned increased by 2.3% to 79,113 in Q2 2023 compared to 77,338 in the same quarter of 2022. Goats and cattle saw growth of 18.4% (18,933 more animals) and 6.1% (50,794 more animals), respectively. Sheep, on the other hand, declined from 13,482 in Q2 2022 to 9,386 in the current quarter. Prices for all types of livestock decreased during this period compared to the same quarter in 2022. Cattle prices dropped by 20.0% (N$25.96), while goat and sheep prices decreased by 17.4% (N$30.69) and 14.6% (N$28.70), respectively.

Trade of Selected Horticultural Products

In Q2 2023, dates were the top earners in horticultural product exports, bringing in N$25.8 million. Tomatoes and vegetable seeds followed with N$3.3 million and N$1.4 million, respectively. For imports, potatoes were the most significant, costing N$17.2 million in Q2 2023. Apples and onions came second and third, with import costs of N$8.7 million and N$7.0 million, respectively.

Figure 1: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector % share to GDP, (2022Q2 – 2023Q2)