Understanding land acquisitions in Namibia’s communal land: Impacts and policy implications

Abstract

Large-scale land acquisitions by both foreign and local investors for agriculture, forestry and wildlife purposes, among others, remain a major challenge for African governments. Between 2000 and 2011, the Namibian government, through various ministries, received proposals from multinational agribusinesses to develop large-scale agricultural irrigation projects (Odendaal, 2011). While only a few of these proposed large-scale projects have materialised, the magnitude of their impacts on rural communities are significant and require urgent measures. This policy brief investigates these acquisitions in Namibia’s communal land. The purpose is to determine the impacts of such deals on communities, whether legal requirements were met before acquiring land for such deals, and whether community members can protect their land rights or oppose such deals. It identifies all the role players and captures the experiences and perceptions of affected and concerned community members towards such undertakings.