SA agri minister pushes Namibia trade ties
South Africa’s agriculture minister, John Steenhuisen, has signalled his willingness to work together with Namibia on the improvement of roads, railways, and harbours for eased agricultural co-operation and trade.
“A big thing is to work together to change the transport system, to improve it. How can we export within Africa on roads and railways as well as using harbours,” Steenhuisen said at the NAMPO Harvest Day earlier this week on Tuesday.
He also insists that Namibia and South Africa need not compete for international markets.
“We all produce a world-class product, which is a hit all over the world. And the development of that market and the support, I think, is where the success is going to be,” Steenhuisen said.
Recent meetings between South African and Namibian agriculture authorities have been fruitful in resolving matters which have produced tension, according to Steenhuisen.
“There is a little tension between the two countries. I had meetings this year with the minister of agriculture, and we sorted out a few things. Now we have the communication that is needed. She told us that 30 days is a notice period for us to export our products. This makes it easier to work together to make sure that the agricultural sector is doing well in both of our countries.”
Steenhuisen also stressed the importance of co-operation between the two countries as part of wider regional collaboration efforts.
“We are part of the solution of getting food security markets within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) area. To work together within the SADC area, to build more opportunities for the whole area of SADC, to help with food security within the SADC area, where there is a lot of production in one part of the SADC.”
He stressed that regional co-operation may also benefit the red meat industry.
"If we stand together and work with the regional approach to handle red meat, then we get more opportunities for the SADC area to export within Africa, but also outside Africa," he said.
