The Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) recently hosted a Stakeholder Engagement Meeting mainly with weekend farmers, and members from the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers Union (NECFU).
The engagement was prompted by the paramount reason that farmers are usually unable to attend Meatco’s Farmers Liaison Meetings (FLM’s) that take place in the various regions across the country. Meatco’s chief executive officer, Mwilima Mushokabanji, in his introductory remarks, highlighted several strategic issues, such as how organisations reinvent themselves with time. He pointed out how the agricultural sector has evolved from the way it operated 20-30 years ago because a lot has drastically changed.
He pointed out that the contribution of agriculture to the gross domestic product has gradually declined from 1990 because production is affected. More than 70% of Namibia’s population are rural dwellers and these are the Namibians who directly or indirectly depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, impressing on how agriculture is the backbone of the Namibian economy.