Calle rejects NAU’s unsolicited green scheme bid
The agriculture ministry has refused to entertain an unsolicited bid from the Agronomic Producers Association of Namibia (APA) – affiliated to the Namibia Agricultural Union - to manage the Agricultural Business Development Agency (Agribusdev) green schemes in the north, saying a public bidding process is necessary to appoint any bid.
The APA recently made a bid to the ministry, saying the current unrest between Ukraine and Russia could lead to wheat shortages, given Namibia’s position as a net importer of wheat.
The association sought a leasehold of at least three years, a request the agriculture ministry could not accept, its minister Calle Schlettwein said.
Lengthy leasehold not possible
“A leasehold of that nature is not possible without a proper bidding process according to the national lease procedures and there, the ministry advised the APA to rather participate in responding to our request for proposals for leaseholds of green schemes for terms long enough to get returns on the respective investments, which will be published in batches as from the end of May,” Schlettwein said.
“The ministry also wishes to state to the public that the proposal by the APA was considered as an indication from the private sector of a market opportunity for all private operators instead of members of the association only,” he added.
According to him, if the proposal were to be entertained, it would have to be opened up to all the interested parties through a short-term expression of interest, which would give all potentially interested private operators the opportunity to bid.
“The APA would like to facilitate the process for producers/groups of commercial farmers and the agriculture ministry to enter a public-private partnership. The principal guidelines would be two different profit share proposals, depending on the available machinery, implements and infrastructure. Producers will finance all inputs like diesel, fertilisers, seeds, and chemicals,” the association said in its bid.
It proposed a 50/50 profit share system, where existing machinery, implements and labour force at the green scheme projects are used, or a 70/30 profit share system where producers provide all machinery, implements and labour.
The APA recently made a bid to the ministry, saying the current unrest between Ukraine and Russia could lead to wheat shortages, given Namibia’s position as a net importer of wheat.
The association sought a leasehold of at least three years, a request the agriculture ministry could not accept, its minister Calle Schlettwein said.
Lengthy leasehold not possible
“A leasehold of that nature is not possible without a proper bidding process according to the national lease procedures and there, the ministry advised the APA to rather participate in responding to our request for proposals for leaseholds of green schemes for terms long enough to get returns on the respective investments, which will be published in batches as from the end of May,” Schlettwein said.
“The ministry also wishes to state to the public that the proposal by the APA was considered as an indication from the private sector of a market opportunity for all private operators instead of members of the association only,” he added.
According to him, if the proposal were to be entertained, it would have to be opened up to all the interested parties through a short-term expression of interest, which would give all potentially interested private operators the opportunity to bid.
“The APA would like to facilitate the process for producers/groups of commercial farmers and the agriculture ministry to enter a public-private partnership. The principal guidelines would be two different profit share proposals, depending on the available machinery, implements and infrastructure. Producers will finance all inputs like diesel, fertilisers, seeds, and chemicals,” the association said in its bid.
It proposed a 50/50 profit share system, where existing machinery, implements and labour force at the green scheme projects are used, or a 70/30 profit share system where producers provide all machinery, implements and labour.
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