8^th November 2003

A group of black farmers in Namibia has reached an agreement with a white farmers' group and has called off its plans to invade 15 farms next week. A BBC reporter in Windhoek says the black farmers came under intense pressure from the government.

The farmers wanted the government to speed up its policy of resettling blacks on white-owned land.

About 4,000, mostly white, commercial farmers own almost half of Namibia's arable land.

A government spokesman had said it would not tolerate any land invasions and urged landless people to be patient.

At talks on Friday, Namibia Farmworkers Union secretary general Alfred Angula and Namibia Agriculture Union President Jan de Wet agreed on new working conditions for farmworkers.

Agriculture, mostly beef exports, is Namibia's second-highest export earner after mining.

First refusal

Namibia's President Sam Nujoma is a close ally of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and last year Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab said he would increase the pressure on white farmers to sell their land.

Namibia's Government is committed to the principle of "willing buyer- willing seller" - which means no-one is forced to sell up, but if they do the state gets first refusal.

Zimbabwe also followed this principle for 17 years after independence in 1980.

A senior official in the ministry of lands, resettlement and rehabilitation, Frans Tsheehama, said the government would not allow any illegal land occupations.

"Let us be patient and follow the adopted policy of land reform. I do not see us, as a country, winning via any other route," he said.

Some 6% of the Namibian population are white, with about one-third of them descended from German settlers.

The BBC (UK)