Northern farmers welcome food directive

Farmers have until now complained about the insufficiency of their fresh produce buyers because of the restrictions of the red line.NGHINOMENWA ERASTUS and YOKANY OLIVEIRAFARMERS in northern Namibia have welcomed a government directive that they should supply all public entities north of the red line with fresh produce and meat.

The directive issued by the finance minister Calle Schlettwein on 26 February 2019 also includes local authorities and state-owned businesses. Reacting to the directive this week, Omangeti Farmers Association chairman Ismael Shailemo said: “Those are the types of decisions the government is supposed to be making if they are serious about helping farmers.”

The association has more than 350 members in the northern communal areas.

“There will be no more cases of people getting tenders to procure beef for northern institutions but buying in other regions because they think our beef is not good because of the red line. Our beef is the best,” he remarked.

The Kavango East Regional Farmers Union (Kerfu)’s chairperson, Adolf Muremi, said the directive was long overdue.

“Securing a reliable market for locally produced agricultural products has been and is still a major concern to northern communal farmers,” he noted.

Muremi said the directive when farmers in the region were diversifying from subsistence to commercial farming, and the directive would boost this process.

However, he reminded the government that in the absence of clear guidelines and responsible institutions to implement the idea and ensure compliance and regulation, the directive will remain on paper. He urged the government to clarify which entities will ensure that the products are available in sufficient quantities in the region, as well as regulate the flow of products from the northern communal areas.

Mpungu District Farmers Association secretary Elia Kamati said even though it was not the red line itself being removed, the directive brings the much needed market to the communal producers.

Kamati added that the government should set-up a well-structured pricing system to ensure producers reap just rewards from their produce unlike what is happening with timber exports.

In the past two years, farmers have complained about the insufficiency of their fresh produce buyers because of the restrictions of the red line.

Just this week, Orange River Irrigation Projects farmers said they were not benefiting from their investment in grape farming because of a small market.

Last year, former agriculture minister John Mutorwa urged the ministry to negotiate with Angola on moving the red line to the border between the two countries.

The farmers claimed that only a few people per constituency were able to sell their surplus produce to the Agro-Marketing Trading Agency last year.

This led to the procuring agency requesting more funds to take up all the surplus millet on the market.

Auguste Fabian, the spokesperson of the Namibia Agronomic Board, which acts as a regulator in agronomic and horticulture, said the directive would bring a positive impact in food production.

She added that it would encourage local producers, especially the small-scale farmers within the production zone, to increase their output.