OMUTHIYAGWIIPUNDI -The Namibia Fish Consumption Promotion Trust (NFCPT) last Friday raised N$1.2 million in cash from pledges and in kind at a gala dinner held in Omuthiya.
This marked the highest amount ever generated since the event’s inception seven years ago.
The funds are destined to the education system in the Oshikoto Region. //Kharas is the next region to host the 9th edition of the National Fish Consumption Day.
“NFCPT and stakeholders have raised over N$3.1 million which have been spend on assisting our communities in various regions in Namibia. Let me also clarify that this corporate social responsibility initiative is by no means the only way that the fishing industry shares the benefits of our fisheries with the wider Namibian community,” said the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Bernhard Esau.
Further adding that the industry pays fishing levies, quota fees and taxes, which are in turn distributed through the national budget to all regions in the country to build roads, schools and other developments.
Esau thus stressed the National Fish Consumption Day donations are a top-up of fisheries sector contribution to society, “to emphasise that we care”.
“The National Fish Consumption Day is a day to celebrate Namibian fisheries. On this day, we remind ourselves of the nutritional and economic benefits of eating Namibian fish. These are the main objectives why the government established NFCPT, this is why this day is hosted by the Trust, our special vehicle for this purpose,” Esau reminded a packed venue of business partners.
In the same vein, he encouraged the nation to eat more fish in order to achieve the national fish consumption target of 20.4 kg fish per person per year.
“This requires us to sell about 50,000 metric tonnes valued at about N$500 million within various towns in Namibia. We are now at about 50 percent of this target.
“If only five percent of this fish trade target could happen in Oshikoto Region, that would be about N$25 million of new business, and the profit margins realised by our small and medium scale traders here could greatly help to address current poverty and inequality. Local fish trade is therefore a realistic means of addressing livelihoods and food security of our people here in Oshikoto Region,” he stated.
NFCPT board chairperson Susan Ndjaleka said the company has extended its distribution points with 17 shops across the country, and operating in 13 regions. She also revealed that a new fish shop is envisaged in Otjiwarongo. Currently, NFCPT constructed a fish shop which is near completion in Omuthiya at the value of N$7 million.
Earlier this year, Esau handed over 1 387 school mattresses valued at N$478 510 and 12 computers valued at N$221 490.00 to Kunene Region.
The mattresses and computers were bought from proceeds of a fund-raising gala dinner held in November last year.