Govt to feed hungry communities with 640 wild animals

… plan yet to get support

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has donated 640 animals to the government’s national drought relief programme.

About 30 hippos, 60 buffalos, 50 impalas, 100 blue wildebeests, 300 zebras and 100 elands will be sourced from Namib Naukluft Park, Mangetti National Park, Bwabwata National Park, Mudumo National Park and Nkasa Rupara National Park to make meat packs for beneficiaries of the programme.

Ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda revealed this to The Namibian yesterday, adding that their contribution of game meat is done with the approval of the Cabinet.

He said in these parks, where the animals will be sourced from, have sustainable game numbers and it will have a limited disturbance to tourism.

“Cabinet . . . approved the Namibia Livelihood Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis report that requires the ministry to support drought relief programmes with the provision of meat. This offtake will also assist in reducing the negative impact of drought on the conservation of wild animals in our national parks. Furthermore, it will assist in managing the current grazing pressure and water availability by reducing wildlife numbers in some parks,” he said.

According to Muyunda, their conservation efforts have proven to be beneficial to citizens.

The government has budgeted N$825 million for the drought-relief programme, which is expected to cater to about 172 200 households nationwide.

Meanwhile, the government is yet to get help from the international community despite asking for N$482 million last month to cover the shortfall needed to meet the budget set for drought relief.

The overal budget for drough relief is N$1,3 billion.

This comes a month after Namibia requested help from heads of diplomatic missions and development partners.

So far, the government has raised N$829 million for food assistance, livestock support, seed and horticulture provision and water provision.

Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) spokesperson Rhingo Mutambo says some foreign governments are willing to help.

“Some governments have indicated their willingness to support. However, they are still consulting their national governments,” he says.

Mutambo says they will continue to mobilise support, adding that only Qatar has donated something so far.

Meanwhile, Popular Democratic Movement president McHenry Venaani says the government must stop being international beggars.

“We are doing nothing to give impetus to agriculture. We are lacking innovation and strategies on how we can best place agriculture at the centre of our national development,” he says.

Venaani says the leadership does not pivot agriculture as an activity that can catapult food security and job creation.

“It’s a weakness, after 34 years of independence,” he says.

“A total of 341 855 households are expected to be food insecure between July 2024 and September 2024,” OPM stated in their earlier presentation.

The government formulated a N$1,3-billion drought-intervention programme for which it would need assistance to implement.

Last week, president Nangolo Mbumba met with development agencies and pleaded for aid from the United Nations. Former ambassador Pius Dunaiski on Tuesday said Namibia should put pressure on all its diplomatic missions to work much harder in light of the severe consequences of the drought emergency.

He said president Mbumba should request the Southern African Development Community to convene an emergency meeting with donor countries and United Nation agencies.

“The corruption headlines and theft of relief aid and food is an obstacle for the mitigation of a bad situation. In the rural areas food will be a priority while the challenges in commercial farming areas could be the collapse of a sector that proportionally gives a lot of jobs,” he said

In March this year, the ministry donated 10 buffaloes, three kudus, two blue-wildebeest, two hippos, one elephant and impalas as part of the country’s 34th Independence Day celebrations at Katima Mulilo.