Windhoek
Thousands of farmers across the crop-producing regions are concerned about the sluggish pace at which the much-anticipated Scaling Up Community Resilience (SCORE) project with special focus on women and children – worth N$50 million – is getting off the ground.
SCORE is a project of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF), funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that was launched in 2015.
It is aimed at reducing vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change, including variability, at local, national, regional and global level to promote the transfer and adoption of adaptation technology, especially for dry land crop and vegetable production.
Farmers representing more than 100 000 households are now adding their angry voices to the chorus of concern, as the project has not taken off on the ground, even as the 2015/16 planting season has nearly come to an end.
The project has three components – all of them aimed at strengthening the adaptive capacity to reduce vulnerability of rural communities in responding to drought and floods in northern Namibia.
Crop farmers, who spoke to New Era, all say the project has become more important than ever because of the severe dry spells they have had to endure since 2013. Around 600 000 Namibians are now in need of drought food aid, many of them from subsistence farming households.
Yesterday it transpired that five rippers are standing in Windhoek waiting at the manufacturer since mid-December to be picked up. New Era also established that five tractors have been procured in a process that started in November last year.
The delay comes at a time when the conditions for land preparation in the north are desperate, and farmers say it seems the project has not yet identified SCORE beneficiaries, as they have opted to advertise that operation to consultants.
The advertisement appeared in the press on January 13, calling for proposals, but many wanted to know if it is necessary to hire expensive consultants to identify poor resource farming households in Namibia.
They say, sadly, this crop season none of the farmers who are supposed to be benefit from the GEF and government-funded SCORE project’s Conservation Agriculture (CA) component will be benefitting. Some farmers in the north claim SCORE has not settled the outstanding payment with manufacturer Gerhard Baufeldt of Baufi’s Agricultural Services. Baufeldt confirmed this, saying some 25 percent of the purchasing price is still outstanding.
SCORE ordered rippers from him and he manufactured them so they can be used this crop season. The tractors were ordered after SCORE coordinators were advised to procure the John Deere 5503 models. Hoffman’s has a lot of tractors in stock at Otjiwarongo. Farmers insist that if the SCORE project really wanted to rip furrow this season, they could do it. It is down to poor project management and inexperience in the field, they claim.
In response to the allegations, SCORE project coordinator Uazamo Kaura told New Era the ongoing drought is of great concern to everyone, saying since the launch of the project at the end of July 2015, the project – as part of its foremost activities for 2015 – was requested to, among others: facilitate the recruitment of project staff; set up offices for project staff within the regions including the procurement of equipment; consult with stakeholders to not only re-introduce the project, but also determine clear implementation guidelines on the ground; and set up clear operating systems in accordance with the recommendations from the inception workshop.
“Following consultations with its implementing partners, the project in November 2015 initiated the purchase of tractors and rippers which will assist the community with agricultural activities. It was understood that the procurement process may take some time, hence it was not expected that the tractors and the rippers would be immediately available, more so during the current harvesting season.
“In addition, due diligence also had to be exercised to ensure the long-term sustainability of the equipment. Hence, once the purchase has been completed, internal administration procedures and policies have to be followed. Once this is done, the equipment will be availed for ripping services,” she notes.
She said the procurement of the tractors is ongoing, but not yet completed, thus there is no truth in saying the tractors are available and are not being transported to the north. The final procurement process for the rippers was last week: “The project is working diligently to ensure transparency. Hence, the selection of beneficiaries is not merely an exercise where individuals select beneficiaries at will.”
Until such time the SCORE project – which was launched in July 2015 – and also presented in the MAWF/FAO comprehensive CA programme workshop in October 2015, is non-operational on the ground.
The SCORE project was awarded US$3 050 000 from the Global Environmental Facility and co-funding from government. One component is to introduce CA to 4 000 farmers, with special focus on women and children.
The SCORE project pledged tractors and implements in the MAWF/FAO workshop in October and have indeed ordered the stuff, but nothing is happening on the ground. Farmers fumed about the fact that the five rippers are standing idle in Windhoek, and the tractors are not being transported to the north.
They claim the SCORE project is not making payments for anything to be implemented on the ground, but are paying salaries to officials sitting in their offices.
“What is the point of a multi-million dollar programme if it is not being implemented on the ground? Are these people running SCORE aware of President Hage Geingob’s call for creating food security and to eradicate poverty?” was the general question asked by communal crop farmers New Era spoke to.