National Assembly members voiced their concerns, focusing on land, water and food issues in the country during the budget debate on the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform.

Swapo Party MP Elifas Dingara's contribution focused on the Ndonga Linena area during the rainy season, which, according to him, turns into a huge dam or water body.

Dingara said that every year the area becomes a large natural dam that holds more water than the Kavango River.

When the river rises, the water spreads over 40 kilometres and fills the entire Ndonga Linena area.

Dingara requested the government to take action and use the water for farming or other development programmes.

Swapo Party MP Modestus Ashipara raised issues concerning land reform and resettlement.

He said land was the main reason for the liberation struggle and resistance.

He also mentioned the genocide against the Herero and Nama people, saying it was done to take away their land.

Ashipara criticised the "willing seller, willing buyer" policy, saying it doesn't help to solve the land problem.

"Are we convinced that the supposedly willing seller will really sell what he did not buy? And why should we, the repossessed, pay for what was stolen from us? I was thinking that the policy should only compensate for value addition on that land, not for the land itself or for the trees and game found there, but for things like houses and fences."

PDM MP Diederik Vries spoke about food security. He said Namibia is facing a serious food crisis, with around 1.26 million people, or over 40 percent of the population, affected.

According to Vries, 100,000 people are at risk of dying from hunger.

He called on the government to act quickly to help those in need.

"This alarming situation is based on the 2024 assessment conducted by the food programme. I therefore ask what specific milestones have been said to assess progress towards national food self-sufficiency and how will this budget allocation support these milestones?"

UDF MP Hendrik Gaobaeb said resettled farmers need more support.

Gaobaeb urged the government to stop giving loans and instead support farmers with grants to help them succeed after resettlement.

IPC MP Michael Mulunga said the country's green schemes, which were meant to support farming, are now in poor condition.

He blamed mismanagement and political interference for this state of affairs.

Therefore, he said the government now needs a lot of money to fix them and bring them back to full operation.

PDM MP McHenry Venaani said the Ministry of Agriculture does not have a proper irrigation policy, adding that his dream is to see Namibia turn half of its desert into a green area to grow food.

Venaani also asked what the ministry is doing to support farming in townlands.

He also criticised the government's quarantine system for livestock, saying it stops farmers in the north from selling meat across the red redline, claiming that the facilities are mismanaged and are hurting local farmers.