Namibia leaf project gets environmental clearance

A N$14 billion tobacco and maize project mooted for Namibia’s Zambezi region has received environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, according to a story in The Namibian.

The Chinese company, Namibia Oriental Tobacco, has applied for 10,000 ha in the Zambezi Region for tobacco and maize production.

The environmental impact assessment submitted by the company states that the primary purpose of the farm will be tobacco production, though maize will be planted on a rotational basis in order to prevent or minimise the occurrence of tobacco related pests and diseases.

The company endorsed the project by stating that from 1995 to 1997 trials in tobacco production in Namibia’s Omaheke, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, Okavango (East and West) and Omusati regions were conducted and that they had shown tobacco could be a ‘very profitable option’.

It said also that tobacco produced in Namibia could fill the market niche created by the reduction in tobacco production in Zimbabwe.

A letter seen by The Namibian addressed to the company from the environment ministry showed that the project still needed to receive authorisation from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry for the clearing of a state forest.

Authorisation for water abstraction would also need to be obtained from the department of water affairs in the same ministry.