Deon Schlechter
WINDHOEK - The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has launched the Namibia Country Programme Framework (CPF) for the period 2019-2023. The CPF will guide FAO’s partnership with the government of Namibia for five years in the areas of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, food security, nutrition and rural development.
FAO is mobilising resources and giving technical support to mitigate the effects of climate change and droughts on agricultural production and people’s livelihoods and made good of this two weeks ago by donating 180 tonnes of multi-nutrient blocks to help drought-hit farmers in Omaheke Region Farayi Zumudzi, the FAO representative in Namibia, says FAO will also donate 180 bales of hay to the region. The blocks contain proteins, trace minerals and provide energy to the livestock that are struggling to keep alive.
Zimudzi says the assistance will go a long way in saving the few remaining livestock which is mainly the core breeding herd, lessening the burden on farmers who are unable to access feed or grazing areas. “The situation is dire and this drought not only affects livestock productivity, but it has also caused an increase in animal disease prevalence, immense pasture degradation and has severely reduced overall access to water,” she noted.
FAO will also provide multi-nutrient blocks and hay to farmers and households in Erongo, Kunene and Otjozondjupa regions.
Zumudzi says in addition to helping farmers, the organisation will also train 42 agricultural extension officers from the country’s 14 regions from September 9 to 19 on livestock emergency guidelines and standards.
The training aims to equip them with the necessary information and skills needed during emergencies such as drought.
“Building capacity of key staff is one of the priority areas under FAO Namibia’s country programme framework. This is to strengthen capacity for disaster-risk reduction, resilience building and climate change adaptation,” she observed.
Festus Ueitele, governor of Omaheke, applauded FAO for the donation and the implementation of the CPF, noting the current drought is the worst to hit the country in recent times and that the only other such severe drought was experienced in 1981.
The Hoveka Royal House donated 100 bales of grass to Omaheke, the Rainbow Fishing Company donated 600 bales of feed to farmers in the region while the Omuhuka Fishing Company financed the transportation of the feed.
Agricultural minister Alpheus !Naruseb says the CPF is of great importance to Namibia as it will strengthen the policy, legal, strategic and institutional frameworks for agriculture, fisheries, forestry, food security and nutrition sectors. He further stated that if fully implemented, alongside efforts by the government and other stakeholders, the four priorities of the CPF would contribute meaningfully to Namibia’s development aspirations in the spirit of leaving no one behind. He also acknowledged that the new CPF comes at an opportune time for Namibia, as the country continues to face recurrent droughts, floods, veld fires, high temperatures, diseases, and pest outbreaks as a result of climate change.
Zimudzi says the CPF implementation process paves the way to enhance partnerships with government, national stakeholders, external stakeholders and the UN system in Namibia, emphasising FAO’s catalytic role in developing sustainable capacity in the agriculture, food security and rural development sectors. She emphasises that the CPF outlines the key outputs needed to achieve the planned outcomes focusing on the FAO core functions while embodying the organisation’s mandate and comparative advantage.
The CPF was developed in alignment to Namibia’s Fifth National Development Plan and other sectoral policies and covers four priority areas in support of development aspirations of the government of Namibia, namely:
Strengthening policy, legal, strategic and institutional frameworks for agriculture, fisheries, forestry, food security and nutrition;
Improving agricultural production, productivity, food safety and strengthened nutrition-sensitive value chains;
Strengthening capacity for natural resource management and land governance; Strengthening capacity for disaster risk reduction, resilience building and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Approximately 50 stakeholders support the programme including state-owned enterprises under the agricultural ministry such as the Meat Board of Namibia, the Agricultural Marketing and Trade Agency (AMTA), the Namibia Agronomic Board and farmers unions such as the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers Union (NECFU), Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) and Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU), as well as other UN agencies namely UNDP, World Health Organisation, IOM and UNICEF.