Livestock theft, poaching cost farmers N$200m in five years

Between 2015 and 2020, farmers paid about N$217.5 million for losses to livestock and wildlife. The losses were caused by theft and predators, human-animal conflict as well as the accompanying anti-countering measures.

Last year alone, farmers lost N$14.7 million to livestock theft, N$22.5 million to predators as well as N$9.4 million to stolen infrastructure on farms.

A total of N$12.2 million was raised for control measures against theft, while another N$6.4 million was spent to keep predators away from livestock.

Meanwhile, game poaching caused a loss of N$17.7 million for farmers in 2021, while they had to cough up N$10.3 million to try to combat poaching.

Damage due to human-animal conflict cost another N$7.9 million, while preventive measures against human-animal conflict cost farmers a further N$6 million.

The figures come from a study on the economic impact of livestock and wildlife theft, as well as conflict between humans and wildlife, which is being conducted by the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the University of the Free State.

‘Economic sabotage’

"It borders on economic sabotage and requires drastic action - not only from the police, but also the justice and legal system as a whole," Piet Gouws, president of the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) said during the union’s congress last week in Windhoek.

"The impact of this is enormous and we trust that government will take this information to heart and take responsible and appropriate action."

NUST’s Dr Salamo Mbai reported on the study during last week’s Agri Outlook Conference.

"Just think if we could add these figures to the gross domestic product [GDP] instead," he said.

He added that the study included a total of 370 farmers in eight regions of the country - members of the NAU, the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers Union as well as the Farmers' Union for the Previously Disadvantaged.

Grim statistics

Last year, the most cattle (338) were stolen in the Otjozondjupa Region, followed by Omaheke (231).

A total of 2 640 sheep were stolen in 2021 in //Karas, while 1 357 sheep were stolen in Hardap.

Most infrastructure is stolen in Otjozondjupa - last year alone, more than N$4.5 million worth of losses were incurred.

In 2021, predators also claimed the most cattle in Otjozondjupa and Omaheke (420 and 268 respectively), while the most sheep were caught by predators in Hardap and //Karas (4 632 and 1 934 respectively).

In terms of cattle theft, Kunene fared the worst between 2015 and 2020, with 1 027 cattle reported stolen. In addition, Otjozondjupa is worst affected, with 799 cattle reported stolen. The third-most cattle were stolen in Omaheke - a total of 661.

In terms of sheep, //Karas and Hardap fared the worst, with 2 513 and 1 588 sheep stolen respectively.

Very few animals are ever recovered - in Omaheke, 61 cattle were recovered - the most in any region over the five years.

//Karas also saw the most sheep - 230 in total – recovered.

Predators, poaching

Four regions suffer the most under predators: Between 2015 and 2020, farmers in Otjozondjupa and Khomas lost 1 569 and 1 293 cattle to predators respectively, while farmers in //Karas and Hardap lost 5 206 and 6 858 sheep respectively.

In terms of game poaching, Erongo and Otjozondjupa got the shortest end of the stick. Between 2015 and 2020, 875 cases of game poaching were reported in Erongo. The figure increased drastically in 2021, when 2 637 cases were reported.

In Otjozondjupa, the same trend was noted, with some 705 cases of game poaching between 2015 and 2020, and with 1 566 cases reported in 2021 alone.