Agriculture

Lionel Tjakuva, who was once employed as a mineworker, says farming is not just an income stream, but it has become a religion and lifestyle he cannot walk away from. 

The Namibia Agronomic Board (NAB) currently oversees three vital agronomic crops that are gazetted as controlled, namely: white maize, pearl millet (mahangu) and wheat.

The National Youth Service (NYS), tasked with providing civic, technical and vocational training opportunities to the country’s youth, is slowly but surely making a name for itself in the agriculture space, and it is now regarded as one of the biggest contributors to food security. 

Executive director in the Office of the Prime Minister I-Ben Nashandi has called on subsistence farmers to apply for subsidies through the drought relief programme to avoid further loss of animals and possible income.

According to a study conducted by the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB), the country’s fruit production sector accounts for about 4% of local production (a mere 732 tonnes), compared to an estimated 20 282 tonnes imported from other countries to meet local demand. 

Both Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regional farmers’ unions recently held their elective congresses, where new leaders were elected to spearhead and provide
strategic direction to farmers within the two regions for the next three years.

Topline Brahman and Simmentaler breeds will go under the hammer this coming Friday at the Northern Select’s much-anticipated auction at Agra Pens in Grootfontein, where some of the country’s best-kept bulls and females will be on display. 

Namibia’s livestock sector experienced an incessant month-by-month decline in cattle exports, which saw the number of exports plummeting from 22 214 heads exported in August this year to 13 899 heads exported in September.

The agricultural sector’s overall contribution to Namibia’s gross domestic product (GDP) stands at over 5%, and about 70% of the country’s population wholly depends on agriculture for employment, income and food security.

The government, through the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises, has appointed an interim board to look into the decelerating affairs of Meatco, the country’s largest meat processing and marketing entity.