ORIP farmers feel abandoned

Workers and farmers at the state-supported Orange River Irrigation Project (ORIP) in the //Kharas Region accuse the government of having neglected the project.

They complain about the absence of visits by senior government officials, crop losses, damaged infrastructure and uncertainty about the future of the irrigation project.

The representative of the Orange River farmers, Lota Marshall, told Network Media Hub (NMH) that frustration among the workers had by now become so great that they had turned to the media. Time and again, they had asked why national leaders and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture visited other agricultural projects, while ORIP was apparently being left out.

According to Marshall, the last significant official visit was in 2020, when a parliamentary committee inspected the project. Since then, there has been hardly any visible political attention. The project has been under the state agricultural development agency Agribusdev since 2016 and includes, among other things, date and vegetable production.

Marshall claimed that production had declined significantly in recent years. Banana harvests that had previously been publicly highlighted had, in his view, also not materialised as announced. In addition, workers’ concerns had not been adequately addressed despite repeated warnings.

Ministry disagrees

The governor of the //Kharas Region, David Gertze, rejected the allegation that the workers had been ignored. He understood their frustration, but said that since taking office he had spoken with both project workers and farmers and had forwarded their concerns to the relevant authorities. The fact that those affected felt neglected was probably because progress did not meet their expectations.

The Ministry of Agriculture (MAWLR) also contradicted the portrayal that the project was failing. Spokesperson Romeo Muyunda stated in writing that ORIP remained operational and continued producing despite various challenges. According to the ministry, sales revenue rose from N$2.8 million in 2024 to more than N$4 million in 2025. For 2026, more than N$3 million had already been recorded, while additional products were still being marketed.

However, the ministry acknowledged problems, including disease outbreaks, difficulties with irrigation, a lack of cooling facilities and limited market access. At the same time, measures to improve operations were under way. The government also confirmed that a process to lease the project to a private operator had been completed in order to strengthen investment and productivity.

“The government has not abandoned ORIP,” Muyunda said. For the workers on the ground, however, questions remain unanswered.