Windhoek
Agricultural businesses could offer a gateway out of poverty, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) representative to Namibia, Babagana Ahmadu.
Ahmadu made the statement yesterday as one of the guest speakers at the first National Conservation Agriculture Stakeholders’ Workshop in Windhoek, held under the theme “Unlocking the Potential of Conservation Agriculture for Inclusive and Equitable Development.”
But for this to happen, Ahmadu says, the public and private sectors should work together.
“By working together and supporting sustainable agricultural development, I am confident that Namibia can not only improve the food security of those who are hungry, but create new opportunities for government and the people of Namibia to shape their land for a better tomorrow,” he noted.
His optimism about the way forward for Namibian crop farmers practising conservation agriculture (CA) comes at a time when Namibia is reeling from the effects of a drought in 2013 and 2015, and some 550 000 inhabitants from a population of 2.2 million being in dire need of food and having to rely on government’s drought aid relief.
Ahmadu says to create the conditions for lasting food and nutrition security all efforts must be sustainable – economically, environmentally and socially.
“Sustainable development respects and responds to local conditions – whether cultural or environmental – so that the land is not diminished and changes take root and continue for decades,” he observes.
He says Namibia’s strategic approach to linking CA to the ongoing dryland crop production programme and other national initiatives is an experience the FAO will promote as a lesson for sharing among global states.
According to him, ensuring food and nutrition security is the greatest development challenge at a time when the world’s population is growing and the availability of new arable land is shrinking.
He says the FAO is globally advocating for the upscale of sustainable agricultural production systems among farming communities.
“In my years of working in Namibia, I have been impressed with the political will in the country to give farmers the means to increase production. This is once again the case with the CA programme, and it is a pleasure to witness the partnerships of stakeholders under guidance of the government. We must always bear in mind that farming at any scale is a business.”