Namibia spends nearly N$500 million importing wheat

Namibia spent nearly N$500 million importing wheat during the second quarter of 2026, showing that the country still depends heavily on wheat from other countries to meet local demand.

According to the Namibia Statistics Agency’s (NSA) Quarterly Agriculture and Fishing Indicator Statistical Bulletin, Namibia imported wheat worth N$491.6 million between April and June this year.

Overall, the country’s cereal grain import bill rose by 59.9% to N$674.8 million, compared to N$422.1 million during the same quarter in 2025.

The figures matter because wheat is used to produce everyday foods such as bread, flour, pasta and other baked products that many households buy regularly.

This means Namibia remains dependent on supplies from other countries, making local consumers vulnerable to changes in global prices and import costs. The report comes even as local crop production recorded strong growth.

The NSA said production of controlled agronomy crops increased by 46.8%, from 35 765 tonnes in the second quarter of 2025 to 52 515 tonnes during the same period this year.

“The total agronomy production in the second quarter of 2026 stood at 52 515 tonnes, compared to 35 765 tonnes recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025. This translates into an increase of 46.8 percent in production level,” the agency said. However, the increase was driven entirely by white maize production.

“White Maize recorded the highest production of 52 515 tonnes while no production was recorded for Wheat and Pearl Millet,” the report states.

This means that although Namibia harvested more white maize, it still produced no wheat during the quarter, forcing the country to continue importing large quantities to meet demand. The bulletin shows that wheat was the country’s biggest cereal grain import, followed by maize valued at N$173 million. Namibia also imported oats worth N$6.2 million and rice valued at N$3.1 million. Australia remained Namibia’s largest supplier of cereal grains, accounting for 50.4% of total imports. South Africa supplied 27.1%, while Lithuania accounted for 16%.

“Additionally, the commodities imported from Australia was mainly Wheat, while commodities imported from South Africa and Lithuania were Maize and Wheat, respectively,” the NSA said.

Meanwhile, agronomy exports, although still small, increased significantly during the quarter.

Export earnings rose from N$15.9 thousand in the second quarter of 2025 to N$122 thousand this year.

The NSA said oats accounted for 82.1% of export earnings, with Angola receiving 99.7% of Namibia’s cereal grain exports.

“The exports of cereal grains in the second quarter of 2026 were mainly destined to Angola, accounting for 99.7 percent of total exports.

Additionally, the commodity exported to this country was mainly Oats,” the report said.

NSA further said, the latest figures show that while Namibia is producing more maize and the country still depends heavily on imported wheat, stressing the challenge of reducing reliance on imported staple foods.

*-pmukokobi@nepc.com.na *

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