Local crop traders keep 47% of market

Ellanie SmitWINDHOEK

The Market Share Promotion (MSP) Scheme will be maintained at the current 47% threshold, enabling local traders to keep their market share. This means that local production contributes 47% to the horticultural (fresh fruit and vegetables) domestic demand and the remaining 53% is imported mainly from South Africa, and this is from a formal trade perspective, excluding informal markets.

Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) CEO Fidelis Mwazi said the Namibian crop industry experienced various changes directly impacting production volumes of some special controlled products during the second quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year.

He made these remarks in the NAB’s latest Season’s Harvest newsletter, saying that these special crops include potatoes and onions.

“The NAB board - as the governing body - passed resolutions to mitigate the factors accordingly,” he said. According to him, during a board meeting last year, it was resolved to maintain the MSP scheme threshold at 47%.

Growth at home

The scheme is a growth-at-home strategy implemented by the NAB and aims to stimulate horticultural production in Namibia and promote sales of locally-produced fresh fruit and vegetables by encouraging importers - such as wholesalers, catering companies and retailers - to source locally.

The scheme requires importers of fresh fruit and vegetables to procure Namibian horticultural products equivalent to at least the minimum percentage factor in monetary value per quarter, as determined and approved by the NAB board, on recommendation from the National Horticulture Advisory Committee.

The implementation of the MSP scheme is funded through horticulture levies. The NAB collects 1.4% levy on sales from local producers, 5% on horticulture imports and 1.4% from traders as a general purchasing levy.

The minimum MSP currently stands at 47% and it serves as a prerequisite to obtaining an import permit, which means that only traders/importers who have achieved their minimum MSP are allowed to import horticultural products unrestricted.

Initially, the MSP started at 5% in 2005. However, the intervention led to an increase in local fruit and vegetable production to the current 47%.

Enhancing implementation

“To further enhance the implementation of the Agronomic Industry Act, the board also approved four technical administrative requirements relating to the exportation, importation, local production and transit of controlled products,” Mwazi said.

According to him, these requirements will provide a regulatory framework aimed at strengthening the control of market quality assurance, food safety and the traceability of controlled products within various segments of the agronomy and horticulture sectors in Namibia to enhance food control systems. Mwazi added that the NAB developed and published the marketing and commercial quality control for lettuce, berry fruits, watermelons and citrus fruits. The standards were developed in collaboration with the Namibian Standards Institution (NSI) and has been published in the Government Gazette.

Standards and quality are essential tools in the development of Namibia’s crop industry, he said.

“Regulatory standards’ developments come at a crucial time as NAB has finalised the preparedness for the implementation of the Quality Management System based on the ISO:9001:15 standard.” Mwazi said after internal audit stages were concluded last year, they proceeded to the next step - which entailed launching an application for an independent audit through NSI.

This is an indication that the NAB is moving in the right direction in terms of implementing its strategic plan and in affirming its vision to becoming a world-class regulator of the crop industry, he said.