Namibian agriculture in major decline due to drought

AllAfrica.com via the Namibian: country's economy grew by 4,4% last year despite a severe drought, which was rated as one of the worst in recent years, the Namibian Statistics Agency said in the rebased GDP statistics for 2013. The agriculture sector was worst hit by the drought and contracted by 26,9% compared to a growth of 8,8% in 2012.

The agency said the 4,4% GDP growth was due to the growth in the secondary and tertiary industries that recorded growth rates 8,7% and 6,4% respectively.

The secondary industries' growth was mainly driven by the booming construction sector. The Agency said growth in the construction sector was due to growth in the construction works in the mining and public sectors.

Primary industries on the other hand, recorded a decline of 9,3% compared to a growth of 16,7% in 2012. This was due to the poor performance of the agriculture sector, the fishing sector, which contracted by 2,6% and the mining and quarrying sector that recorded a decline of 1,2% in 2013. "The drop in mining output is attributed to the decline in uranium production," the agency said....