Namibia has become a net exporter of food products. In March 2026, Namibia had a food trade surplus of R462 million, but with a R190m deficit on beverages, according to Statistician General Alex Shimuafeni. The surplus on food items was mainly due to exports of fish and meat and edible meat offal, which stood at R1.5 bn and R362m, respectively. This is a consistent trend. Over the period spanning March 2025 to March 2026, Namibias overall trade on food items averaged a trade surplus amounting to R506m, said Shimuafeni. The highest trade surplus was R1.1 bn, observed in January 2026, followed by December 2025 and July 2025 with R869m and R792m, he reported in the March edition of the Namibia International Merchandise Trade Statistics Bulletin. There have been no food trade deficits since March 2025. The March 2026 figures show that fish and other aquatic invertebrates contributed the highest to the food basket with a share of 74, followed by meat and edible meat offal with 17.4. The third commodity in the list was edible fruit and nuts at 3.1. The top five food exports jointly accounted for 97.7 of the total exports. On the demand side, cereal dominated the import list with a share of 16.6, while sugar and sugar confectionery and meat and edible meat offal took the second and third positions, having accounted for 12.4 and 7.9, correspondingly. The top five imported food items accounted for 52.6 of the basket during March. Imports of beverages averaged R326m between March 2025 and March 2026, with October 2025 registering the highest value of R677m. During the same period, exports averaged R87m. The highest value of R179m was in November 2025, and the lowest was R51m in September 2025. In September, charcoal was listed as the commodity of the month by the Namibia Statistics Agency. During the month, Namibia exported charcoal worth R100 million, mainly to the Netherlands, South Africa and Poland, while on the demand side, the country imported charcoal mostly from Malaysia worth R1 million, according to Shimuafeni. Based on alien bush control programmes, the sector has grown from 160 000 tonnes in 2016 to more than 270 000 tonnes a year, making the country one of the worlds top charcoal exporters. Namibia also claims to produce the worlds greenest charcoal. ER
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