Lands minister Jerry Ekandjo launched the Strategic Action Plan for Land Reform in Namibia on Wednesday, which was completed by a six-member Permanent Technical Team (PTT) in December 2004 and mainly financed by Germany, Britain and the US. Governemnt took nearly 18 months to study the findings and recommendations, which Cabinet adopted 2 months ago. The plan reaches over 15 years to 2020 and recommends a N$ 3.7 billion land acquisition strategy for 10 million hectares at 270,000 ha per annum, equivalent to 50 commercial farms of 5,000 ha each. Some N$1.4 billion are planned for loans and service packages for 6,727 resettled families. Another 5 million ha of communal land is to be developed into small farming units if 1,000 each. Minister Ekandjo assured Namibians that the land reform, including expropriation would follow the existing laws and the Namibian constitution. The new German ambassador to Namibia, Arne Freiherr von Kittlitz said the 15-year land reform plan was a "significant step" for Namibia and reflected exemplary transparancy while providing benchmarks and planning paramters. Germany was willing to offer continued support for Namibia’s land reform, von Kittlitz said. The photo shows (from left) Ambassador von Kittlitz, Minister Jerry Ekandjo and his deputy, Isaak Katali. Photo: Brigitte Weidlich