Farmers’ union major player in agriculture sector

The governor of the Oshikoto region, Penda ya Ndakolo, has called on the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) and its members to move from subsistence farming to commercial farming.

This is to benefit its members and the country.

He made these remarks at a two-day NNFU national council meeting at Tsumeb which started on Sunday.

Farmers unions, said Ya Ndakolo, are central organisations that maintain organised agriculture and advocate service deliveries to farmers.

He said more than 70% of the Namibian population lives in rural areas and people in these areas are both directly and indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods and, therefore, NNFU has a duty to promote agricultural production in rural areas so that the country can attain food security.

Ya Ndakolo said the meeting should be a platform to build synergy and improve service delivery to farmers.

“This collaboration is especially critical in light of the continuous drought we are facing, which is not only threatening agricultural production, but also livelihoods and food security. Farmers must come together and strategise to find sustainable solutions and this can be achieved if NNFU can take the lead,” he said.

The meeting, which is being held under the theme ‘Inclusion and Unification of Namibian Farmers’, is attended by NNFU members from all 14 regions of Namibia.

James Zahengwa from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry said in an effort to assist farmers facing climate change challenges, the ministry has come up with a livestock support programme funded by the European Union.

The programme, he said, entails improving rangelands, pastures, markets for farmers, as well as addressing animal diseases. He said thus far, the programme has set up animal fodder production demonstration sites in regions, whereby farmers are trained on how to produce lucerne or grass.

“We are doing this, because lucerne is very expensive to obtain. We have set up two demonstration sites in every region,” he said.

NNFU is a national federation of regional farmers unions, established in June 1992, to serve as a mouthpiece for Namibian communal and emerging farmers.