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Tomatoes emerged as the top horticulture export in the third quarter of 2024, contributing N$94.6 million to the N$242.9 million in total exports, according to Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA). This comes as the horticulture sector demonstrated its resilience in the third quarter of 2024, slightly surpassing the N$241.7 million recorded in the same period last year.
In the third quarter of 2024, Namibia exported horticultural products valued at N$242.9 million compared to N$241.7 million that was exported in the same quarter of 2023. During the period under review, tomatoes were the top exported products, amounting to N$94.6 million, followed by dates (N$43.5 million), and onions came in third place, valued at N$42.2 million. NSA reported that key export markets included South Africa (62.9%), Angola (12.3%) and Germany (8.3%).
On the import side, horticulture products valued at N$304.8 million were brought into the country, up from N$256.3 million in Q3 2023. NSA highlighted that the top imported products were spices and aromatic crops (N$71.3 million), potatoes (N$42.0 million), apples (N$31.8 million) and tea leaves (N$15.7 million). Nearly 97.3% of these imports were sourced from South Africa.
Namibia’s cereal grain imports surged to N$717.8 million in the third quarter of 2024, marking an increase from the N$415.5 million recorded in the same period last year. The spike in imports comes against the backdrop of a severe drought that drastically impacted local agronomy production. During the quarter under review, the import of cereal grains was valued at N$717.8 million, an increase from N$415.5 million recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2023. The total agronomy production for Q3 2024 stood at 8,571 tonnes, reflecting a sharp 57.0% decline from the 19,940 tonnes produced in Q3 2023.The decline was largely driven by a reduction in white maize and millet production, which fell by 56.7% and 75.4%, respectively.
White maize production dropped from 19,343 tonnes in Q3 2023 to 8,366 tonnes, while millet production declined to just 204 tonnes from 831 tonnes in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The drought was identified as the primary cause of these declines. This decline is attributed to white maize and millet, which recorded negative growths of 56.7 per cent and 75.4 per cent, respectively. There was no production of wheat during the period under review, according to the NSA report.
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Despite the drop in production, exports of agronomy products saw a slight increase, totalling N$75.5 thousand in Q3 2024 compared to N$62.4 thousand in the same quarter of 2023. Maize accounted for 89.8% of these export earnings, with primary destinations including Angola (89.8%), Cyprus (8.0%), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (2.2%). Imports significantly outpaced exports. Maize was the top imported cereal grain, valued at N$413.4 million, followed by wheat (N$269.4 million) and rice (N$6.7 million). These imports were primarily sourced from South Africa (65.6%), Russia (26.6%), and Poland (6.6%).
