Press Release

Irrigation scheme in Namibia receives OPEC Fund support with US$6 million loan

35/2005 April 21, 2005, Vienna, Austria

The OPEC Fund for International Development today signed a US$6 million loan agreement with the Republic of Namibia to help develop irrigated agriculture in the south of the country. The aims of the scheme are to enhance food security, provide livelihoods and reduce poverty levels among the rural population.

Namibia’s arid climate and low annual rainfall pose significant challenges to the agriculture sector. While the country possesses a number of rivers, most are to be found along international borders, necessitating the negotiation of special use agreements. The two cultivation sites, Noordoewer and Tandjieskoppe, are located close to the South African border along the Namibian bank of the Orange River. Although situated in one of the driest areas in Namibia, the nearby river makes the growing of high-value cash crops (grapes and dates) highly feasible. The Fund co-financed initiative will help develop the region’s agricultural potential by creating partnerships between small- and medium-scale commercial farmers in a government “green scheme.”

Under the project, 1,000 ha of irrigated land will be divided among 13 medium-scale and 130 small farmers, with the former acting as “service providers” and training the latter to independently handle the irrigation, management and marketing of target crops. A gravity-driven irrigation system will be built over the entire cultivation area and served by water pumped from the Orange River. Beneficiaries will also be able to purchase inputs, equipment and machinery via a newly-established credit scheme. Houses will be constructed for each farmer, and supporting rural infrastructure, such as roads, cold storage facilities and a school, will be built.

This project represents the Fund’s first public sector loan to the Republic of Namibia.

Today’s agreement was signed in Vienna by H.E. Mr. Hanno B. Rumpf, Ambassador of the Republic of Namibia to Germany, and by H.E. Mr. Jamal Nasser Lootah, Chairman of the Governing Board of the OPEC Fund.

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