Greening the Namibian Desert: An African Success Story

The document details how entrepreneur Dusan Vasiljevic established a table grape industry in Namibia's arid coastal regions starting in 1988, leveraging a specific climatic window to supply European markets. It describes the transition from a single farm, Aussenkehr, to a broader industry involving government parastatals and black empowerment corporations. The text highlights the importance of the Fourth Lomé Convention for EU market access and the challenges of meeting stringent quality certifications and US quarantine requirements. By 2003, production grew to over 12,000 tonnes, creating thousands of jobs in the Karas Region and expanding into the South Central region via the Hardap irrigation scheme.

• The Namibian table grape industry was initiated by Dusan Vasiljevic in 1988, who identified that the country's mild coastal climate allowed for production during November and December when other regions faced frost.
• Access to the European Union market was facilitated by the Namibian government's membership in the Fourth Lomé Convention (1992-2000), which provided preferential access for low-income African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states.
• Namibia secured a specific trade advantage for grapes, including a tariff reduction of 2.5% for volumes exceeding an 800-tonne quota, meaning Namibia paid 8% duty compared to 11.5% for other countries, effective from January 2002.
• The industry has seen significant growth in volume and value, with production increasing from 1,000 tonnes in 1991 to more than 12,000 tonnes in 2003, with an export value of approximately N$180 million ($29 million).
• The sector has become a major source of employment in the underdeveloped Karas Region, creating roughly 3,500 permanent jobs and 7,000 part-time harvesting positions.
• Production has expanded beyond the Orange River area to the Hardap irrigation scheme in the South Central region, where farmers have switched from wheat and maize to high-value export crops due to the rising cost of water.
• Namibian exporters must rely on the South African government’s Perishable Products Exports Control Board (PPECB) for quality certification and must meet EurepGAP standards to enter the EU market, as Namibia lacks its own certification organization.
• Attempts to enter the US market have been unsuccessful for eight years due to the complex Pest Risk Assessment (PRA) and quarantine conditions required by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2008). Greening the Namibian Desert: An African Success Story. https://saiia.org.za/research/greening-the-namibian-desert-an-african-success-story/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Greening the Namibian Desert: An African Success Story. 2008. https://saiia.org.za/research/greening-the-namibian-desert-an-african-success-story/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Greening the Namibian Desert: An African Success Story |date=25 April 2008 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/greening-the-namibian-desert-an-african-success-story/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2008greening, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Greening the Namibian Desert: An African Success Story}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2008}, month = apr, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/greening-the-namibian-desert-an-african-success-story/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }