Undamuje Hambira
The Meatco Foundation, together with its consortium partners, has launched an innovative Agribusiness e-Academy to strengthen the skills and resilience of smallholder farmers across Namibia and beyond.
The initiative is delivered in partnership with Meatco Northern Communal Area (NCA), the Namibia National Farmers’ Union (NNFU), the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform (MAFWLR), and the GIZ “Farming for Resilience” (F4R) Programme, with support from the Matching Grant Fund under the GIZ Agri-Business Facility for Africa (ABF).
The e-Academy forms part of the wider “Business Support Facility for Resilient Agriculture Value Chains” which is a joint action of the European Union (EU), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-implemented by GIZ.
The collaboration builds on long-term efforts to enhance sustainable agribusiness development and strengthen agricultural value chains across African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
Two-phase capacity-building programme
The rollout of the e-Academy marks the first phase of a two-part initiative to upgrade farmers’ agribusiness skills. Phase two — the Farmer Business School (FBS) is set for implementation in early 2026.
The FBS is an established adult-learning model that equips smallholder farmers with practical tools to identify market opportunities, make informed business decisions, increase productivity, and diversify income streams. Training will cover cost–benefit analysis, income-oriented planning and strategies to strengthen agricultural resilience.
Strengthening livestock value chains
With a particular focus on cattle, sheep, and goat value chains, the programme aims to build economic and climate resilience while enhancing food security, creating jobs, and improving livelihoods in the 79 ACP countries under the Samoa Agreement.
The Agribusiness e-Academy is hosted on the Atingi digital learning platform and provides free, self-paced courses for farmers, extension officers, teachers, trainers, students, and agricultural practitioners.
Learners have access to multimedia content, interactive tools, quizzes, forums, downloadable material, and certificates upon completion.
The programme will run until December 2026, and courses currently available include Agriculture as a Business 1 & 2, Climate-Smart Agribusiness 1 & 2, Business Model Canvas, Value Chains in a Nutshell, Maize Good Agricultural Practices, and Organic Certification under the SADC–EU Economic Partnership Agreement.
The Meatco Foundation is calling on aspiring and established agripreneurs to register for the free training and start earning certificates through the Atingi platform. Registration is open to all, with no age restrictions.
To sign up, visit:https://online.atingi.org/auth/emailgiz/referral.