Background
Agriculture, fishing, and forestry play a significant role in terms of employment creation, contribution to GDP, foreign earnings, and food security. Real value added in the industry increased by 2.6% in 2022, and between 2010 and 2022 the sector contributed around 7.9% to GDP on average.
Analysis
Namibia’s export earnings from agriculture, forestry, and fishing commodities amounted to N$ 971 million for Q1 of 2023 whereas the import bill stood at N$ 806 million when compared to the export earnings of N$ 4.0 billion and import bill of N$ 1.1 billion in Q1 of 2022. Fish products during the quarter under review attracted export earnings of N$ 4.0 billion relative to N$3.1 billion recorded in Q1 of 2022 while the import bill amounted to N$ 167.9 million down from N$194.6 million recorded in Q1 of 2022.
Fisheries Products
During the period under review, horse mackerel recorded the highest landings of 43 346 metric tons, followed by Hake and Monk with 41 155 and 1 672 metric tons, respectively. Fish and crustaceans, mollusks, and other aquatic invertebrates worth N$ 4.0 billion were exported during the period under review, relative to N$3.1 billion recorded for the first quarter of 2022. The main export market for fish was Spain accounting for 32.9%, followed by Zambia at 16.2%, and lastly the Democratic Republic of Congo with a share of 12% of the total fish export.
In terms of imports, the country demanded fish valued at N$ 167.9 million during the first quarter of 2023. Fish products were mainly imported from Morocco (19.4%), Chile (17.6%), and the United States of America (14.1%).
Livestock
From a decline of 30.7% in the comparable quarter of 2022, the number of livestock marketed increased by 7.8% in the first quarter of 2023. Namibia marketed a total of 74 289 heads of animals during the period under review. Goats posted the highest growth of 26.4% (15 898 heads), followed by sheep which saw an increase of 18.1% (11 897 heads). During the period under review, the country marketed a total of 46 494 cattle an increase from 46 271 cattle marketed in the corresponding quarter of 2022.
In terms of auction prices, prices across all types of livestock recorded declines during the quarter under review. Cattle posted N$ 31.82 per KG which is a 13.2% reduction, followed by goats which posted a decline of 6.2%. Goats and sheep recorded average prices of N$31.34 per KG and N$32.19 per KG, respectively during the first quarter of 2023. This was ascribed mainly to an increase in the supply of weaners from Botswana to South Africa, resulting in an oversupply of livestock in the South African market, and eventually contributing to a decline in weaner prices in Namibia.
Trade of selected horticultural products
During the quarter under review, grapes were the top exported product recording foreign earnings of N$ 79.9 million. The export of date and tomatoes were also significant posting values of N$ 58.2 million and N$ 19.8 million, respectively. In terms of horticulture imports, apples ranked first with a value of N$ 24.8 million, followed by vegetable seeds with a value of N$ 20.8 million and onions with a value of N$ 13.4 million. The top traded goods in both exports and imports were onions and tomatoes.
Figure 1: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector % share to GDP, (2022Q1 – 2023Q1)
Source: NSA & HEI Research
Figure 2: Top ten imported horticultural products in million N$ for the first quarter of 2023
Source: NSA & HEI Research