The challenges of leadership in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry in Namibia

• Main Author: Mwilima, Mushokabanji Immanuel
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Political leadership > Namibia; Leadership > Namibia; Public administration > Namibia
• Online Access: Mwilima, Mushokabanji Immanuel (2016) The challenges of leadership in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry in Namibia, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <https://hdl.handle.net/10539/23881>; https://hdl.handle.net/10539/23881

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Management (in the field of Governance and Public Leadership). October, 2016 === There is mounting evidence that the effective functioning of any organisation or public sector is determined by the quality of leadership. The author of the research investigated the challenge of leadership in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry. More than 70 percent of the Namibian population directly or indirectly subsist on Agriculture for their livelihood. Agriculture remains the backbone of the Namibian economy. Hence the relevance of great and strong leadership. Evidence from the investigation, observes that communication, lack of policy enforcement, co-ordination, change management, leadership styles and strategic alignment are the major leadership challenges and thus cause lack of performance in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry. The author observed pockets of excellence in the quality of leadership too. There have been investments in the aspects of human development and policy formulation, but there is more work that needs to be done in the aspects of sectoral unification of strategies, enhanced sectoral co-ordination, policy enforcement and to ensure effective communication between the public and private sector. There are endless possibilities in improving agricultural production, productivity and competitiveness in the sector if it adopts new economic values such as collaboration and co-creation. There is a need to induct board members and senior management in the legislative instruments such as acts, policies and strategies so that the leadership team can subscribe to common policies with shared values and meaning. Investing in capacity development will drive the sector to be a leaderful sector that delivers public value; a sector that delivers to an extent where stakeholder expectations are mate. The research findings show that great leaders are those who have the ability to build strong teams, manage change, alter organisational values, craft leaders across all levels of the organisation, inspire trust and respect from the team, are able to create thinking environments in the workplace and build strong sustainable organisations. === GR2018