156 tractors still not ready for farmers

Government tractors bought to assist farmers have remained parked for one year and four months while the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform registered them and recruited and trained operators.

Agriculture minister Inge Zaamwani revealed this in response to parliamentary questions from Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) member of parliament Michael Mulunga about government tractors that were parked or broken down.

Zaamwani says the ministry bought the tractors in batches, with the first delivered to the regions in July 2023.

“The tractors were only parked from July 2023 to November 2024,” she says.

During this period, the ministry registered the tractors and recruited operators, who underwent a month-long training course.

Zaamwani says the government had 476 tractors during the 2025/26 rainy season, including 197 under the Dry Land Crop Production Programme (DCPP) and 279 newly purchased tractors.

However, only 200 tractors were serviced and ready for use when the ploughing season started on 1 November 2025.

Another 129 needed minor repairs, while 98 required major repairs.

The ministry allocated N$7.2 million for tractor maintenance and repairs during the 2025/26 financial year.

Zaamwani says the new tractors came with servicing for up to 1 000 operating hours, after which the government would cover maintenance costs.

During the current 2026/27 financial year, the ministry has spent N$1.53 million on tractor servicing and repairs.

From 17 to 31 August, the ministry carried out a nationwide servicing programme covering 485 tractors.

Of these, 177 had already been serviced before the programme, while another 152 were serviced during August.

This brought the number of tractors ready for use to 329, leaving 156 not yet ready for deployment.

“Consequently, a total of 329 tractors have been serviced and are currently ready for deployment, representing an overall servicing completion rate of 67.8%,” she says.

Zaamwani admits that the available tractors cannot meet demand from farmers.

“The ministry acknowledges the overwhelming demand of agricultural mechanised services by communal, resettled and affirmative action loan scheme farmers that cannot be met or satisfied with the current available limited number of tractors,” she says.

To address the shortage, the ministry has introduced a subsidy to help farmers hire private tractors.

Under the arrangement, farmers pay 40% of the cost, while the government covers 60%, up to N$500 per hectare.

Zaamwani says the ministry has also proposed a subsidy to help farmers buy their own tractors.

The proposal is before the joint Cabinet committee on treasury and the Cabinet committee on trade and economic development.

The government has provided ploughing services through the DCPP since 2012.

The programme operates in 10 crop-producing regions and assists about 18 000 farming households annually.

However, Zaamwani says demand remains higher than the number of farmers the ministry can assist.

She says ploughing has started in the Zambezi region, with other regions expected to follow.

The ministry aims to keep at least 95% of its tractors in working condition.

Zaamwani did not say when all 485 tractors would be ready for use.

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