Okahandja
Minister of Economic Planning and Director-General of the National Planning Commission Tom Alweendo says the effects of climate change will make it difficult to end poverty and hunger in the country.
He was speaking to journalists yesterday on the sidelines of the ongoing Zero Hunger Strategic Review meeting in Okahandja and said it would mean that resources meant for other priorities would be diverted to addressing the challenges that come with climate change, while addressing poverty and hunger.
Namibia is currently experiencing the worst El-Nino conditions in 35 years. Government-led assessments confirmed that about 580 000 people in rural areas are affected by food insecurity due to the prevailing drought. Despite the challenges presented by the persistent drought, Alweendo believes that ending poverty and hunger is an attainable goal.
Furthermore, he said the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP4) falls well within the ambit of Namibia’s Zero Hunger Strategic Review, which is expected to be finalised in one month’s time.
The report will then be submitted to government to be incorporated into its implementation programmes.
“We will use those findings to plan better in addressing poverty and hunger,” Alweendo said. Poverty and hunger are closely related, as one causes the other, he explained.
As part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that came into effect a few months ago after the Millennium Development Goals expired, Namibia endeavours to end hunger by 2030.
Ending hunger is also a top priority among the SDGs.
Furthermore, Alweendo feels that hunger in the world and in Namibia is not caused by a lack of food.
“We have enough food. It’s about how we distribute the food,” Alweendo said, adding that Namibians should be more caring towards people who are less privileged.
He stressed that the way success is defined today makes it difficult for people to care for one another, as their priorities and concerns are geared towards accumulating personal wealth, instead of sharing with the less privileged.
Most of the time it is about manipulating the system to get more from it as individuals, rather than for the common good.
Nevertheless, he said government is committed to tackling poverty, unemployment and inequality.
“We have succeeded in reducing poverty rates from 58 percent in 1993 down to 27 percent in 2015 and we cut unemployment rates to 28 percent,” Alweendo said.
He further stressed the fact that much more needs to be done to ensure that inequalities are reduced and that “every Namibian has a chance to a better life than our fathers and forefathers had”.
United Nations resident coordinator Kiki Gbeho said ending hunger, achieving food security, and promoting sustainable agriculture are attainable goals.
“We’ve seen countries like Brazil demonstrate that with the right policies and strategies in place, ending hunger in our lifetime is possible,” she said.
“As we work with Namibia to localise the Sustainable Development commitments, we hope to learn some valuable lessons from the Zero Hunger Strategic Review process on how to go about mainstreaming the remaining priority Sustainable Development Goals in the national and sectoral plans,” Gbeho further said.
Namibia is one of the countries that has the potential to end hunger and child malnutrition, she said.
“We’ve seen the percentage of stunted children drop from 29 percent in 2006 to 24 percent in 2013. It will require a consolidated and sustained performance by the Namibian government and partners to reach the goal of zero stunted children by 2030,” Gbeho said.