ONGWEDIVA – Germany’s leading development consultants GOPA, through the Millennium Challenge Account Namibia (MCA-N) project offered technical assistance and training to over 50 community-based livestock farmers. Apart from the initial rangeland management, livestock management, community development and marketing information that GOPA intended to provide to community-based livestock farmers, the organization also included additional training in water point management, budgeting and book-keeping. Since the inception of the training project in 2010 GOPA has trained farmers and government agricultural extension technicians in animal health, livestock nutrition, livestock production, and reproduction, as well as livestock management in seven regions. The Kunene, Omusati, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Kavango East and West regions have so far benefited from the three-year training programme. The training is aimed at addressing the degradation of rangelands, the improvement of livestock and land management decisions, however its real focus is on business best practices under the livestock component of the programme.
GOPA extended the livestock component by offering bulls to farmers at subsidized prices. The bull scheme is sustained with a revolving fund to ensure continuity in the supply of bulls. A total of 110 bulls will be supplied by the end of 2014 when the project comes to an end. GOPA’s community development expert Oliver Manungo said each community had about 70 cows for one bull compared to the optimum level of 25 cows per bull. In the Omusati Region ten farmers were provided with an Afrikaner and other bulls at a subsidized price of N$2000 instead of the market price ranging between N$8 000 to N$12 000. Some farmers also received sheep for N$600 each instead of the going N$3 000 market price at a handover function last week in Outapi.
The Community-based Rangeland & Livestock Management (CBRLM) outfit is presently managing 58 grazing areas in all seven regions and each grazing area has received an animal husbandry tool kit per group of farmers.
The organization targets 500 beneficiaries by the end of the project term of which the immediate beneficiaries are women led households, disabled members of society, herders and non-livestock owning households.
By Nuusita Ashipala