Namibia has terminated a $2.4 million contract with US agricultural technology company 6th Grain Corporation to deploy artificial intelligence and satellite imagery for monitoring the country’s crops, after a government review found that the agreement did not meet required legal and procedural standards.
The Ministry of Agriculture formally ended the Remote Sensing Agricultural Services Agreement after reviewing both the contract and the circumstances surrounding its conclusion, ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said.
“The review established that the agreement did not meet the requisite legal and procedural requirements applicable to contractual arrangements entered into on behalf of the government,” Muyunda said, according to Namibian reports.
The government has issued 6th Grain with a formal written notice of termination.
The agreement, valued at about N$40 million ($2.4 million), was signed in June 2026 and was designed as a one-year project to use satellite-based remote sensing, geospatial analytics and AI to improve agricultural monitoring and planning across Namibia.
What the cancelled AI project was designed to do
The system was intended to monitor key staple crops including maize, mahangu, millet, sorghum, cowpea and wheat, while providing crop maps, crop-health monitoring, production forecasts, drought-risk assessments and land-suitability analysis.
The project also included a geo-tagged farmer survey database and digital platform, as well as technology and skills transfer to Namibia’s agriculture ministry.
6th Grain had said the government would ultimately receive the software, AI models and intellectual property needed to operate and expand the system independently.
The contract had already attracted scrutiny in Namibia before its termination.
Reports in July said government officials were investigating how the agreement was awarded, with questions raised over procurement procedures and whether senior officials and Cabinet had been adequately consulted.
The controversy also extended to concerns about food security and data sovereignty, with some political figures questioning whether a foreign company should be responsible for technology monitoring the country’s agricultural production.
6th Grain, however, defended the agreement, saying it had engaged with the ministry since 2025 and that the project was donor-funded rather than financed by Namibian taxpayers. The company also said the system would ultimately be handed over to the Namibian government, including its software and intellectual property.
The US Embassy in Namibia had previously welcomed the deal, describing it as an example of US technology supporting agricultural development, local skills and commercial ties between the two countries.
The termination now ends the agreement before the planned agricultural monitoring system can proceed under the existing contract.
The Agriculture Ministry said the decision was intended to safeguard the interests of the Namibian state and ensure that government contracts comply with applicable laws, policies, regulations and established procedures
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