THE EFFECTS OF FARM PRICE SUPPORT POLICIES: HOW LEVEL IS THE PLAYING FIELD FOR GRAIN PRODUCERS IN NAMIBIA?
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In Namibia historically high levels of support to the commercial farm sector have been
reduced in recent years in line with general market liberalisation trends. However
some support remains. At the same time more attention has been paid to supporting
the previously neglected communal sector. The avowed aim of politicians is to ensure
that grain producers in Namibia operate “on a level playing field”. This paper
examines to what extent the policy support playing field has been levelled for all major
types of grain producer in Namibia. A methodology is introduced for developing a
common measure of the effects of price support across grain producers with
subsistence and commercial objectives and across scales of operation ranging from 1
hectare to 300 hectares under grain crops. The finding show that the bulk of grain
producers in Namibia, who farm most of the grain area, remain seriously
disadvantaged compared to the fewer, larger farms. Ongoing discussions on
outsourcing government support services to small farmers is likely to result in the
playing field becoming more uneven and other compensating measures will need to be
taken if politicians and decision makers are serious about “evening the playing field
for all”.