WINDHOEK – Livestock farmers in the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) have expressed relief over the completion of State Veterinary Offices (SVOs), which were funded by the Millennium Challenge Account Namibia (MCA‐N) Compact programme.
The farmers say they now no longer have to travel hundreds of kilometres to take their livestock to a veterinary clinic.
As part of its objective to advance the country’s veterinary infrastructure in the underserved areas to improve animal health and livestock production, MCA‐N invested N$98 million in the construction of five state‐of‐the‐art SVOs. The Namibian government provided N$6 million.
MCA‐N handed over the final two SVOs at Outapi and Eenhana to the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) John Mutorwa on October 15 and 17 respectively. The other animal clinics are located at Okakarara, Epukiro and Omuthiya and were already handed over earlier this year.
The SVOs come complete with animal treatment areas, offices, a laboratory, meeting rooms, a sterilization room, post‐mortem room, freezer and cold rooms, as well as kennels and animal holding pens.
Minister Mutorwa hailed the construction of these veterinary clinics as a giant step towards bringing services closer to the previously disadvantaged livestock farmers.
MCA‐N CEO Penny Akwenye appealed to the farmers to work closely with agriculture authorities in order for them to fully benefit from the positive changes happening in the sector. She said the farmers in the NCAs had now been presented with opportunities to fully participate in the country’s livestock economy.
At both events Minister Mutorwa commended MCA‐N for investing in improving animal health in areas that were previously neglected.
“As government we give appreciation to MCA Namibian and the American government for availing the funds to build these modern State Veterinary Offices, especially this one in the Omusati Region which has the highest population of cattle in the NCAs,” he said.
The Minister appealed to veterinary personnel at Outapi and Eenhana to utilise the clinics properly and warned against abuse.
“Veterinary staff must protect these facilities from vandalism. These new centres must help us as a nation to move forward in line with our Vision 2030 mission,” said Mutorwa.
The Minister also said that the new SVOs would help the Ministry to implement the policy on eradication of trans‐boundary animal diseases and have the areas north of the Veterinary Cordon Fence recognised as being free from Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).
“As a matter of fact my Ministry, with funding from MCA Namibia, has developed a strategy and drafted an implementation plan for activities that will lead to the declaration of the areas north of the veterinary cordon fence as free from FMD and Contagious Bovine Pleuro Pneumonia,” he stressed.
Ohangwena Regional Governor Usko Nghaamwa appealed to veterinary staff in the northern regions to ensure the sustainability of the SVOs for the benefit of present and future generations.
“We will forever be indebted to MCA Namibia as these facilities will safeguard a viable future for livestock in the northern regions,” said the Governor.
Ivan Rios, from the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek, said he was proud that the SVOs were all built by Namibians to Namibians. “Congratulations Namibia for a job well done!” he said.
Also the livestock farmers were full of praise for MAWF and MCA‐N. Lazarus Kornelius from the Ruacana Farmers Association emphasised that farmers from his area no longer have to travel 240km to the next veterinary. “We had suffered for a very long time. Before this animal clinic at Outapi we used to drive our animals to Ondangwa for treatment,” he stated.
Efraim Weyulu, a senior headman of the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority, is happy that gone are the days when veterinary officials would conduct operations on animals under trees: “We now have modern and well equipped facilities to do this job.”
Tobias Emvula, President of the Namibian National Farmers Union (NNFU), concluded that the SVOs will help improve the condition of livestock to fetch better prices on the meat market.
“Namibia had a serious shortage of veterinary officers serving the northern areas, we only had extension officers who could not meet the needs of all the farmers. We thank MCA and MCC for listening to our plight,” said a proud Emvula.
Ephraim Nambinga, from the Omusati Regional Farmers Union, described the handover of the Outapi SVO as a “historic day”.