Joseph Ruzendo
Namibia is one of the few countries in Africa, which has made progress in the agricultural sector since its independence in 1990. Following the newly launched National Development Plan (NDP5) by President Hage Geingob in 2017, the sector is one of the critical segments to advance Namibia’s economic growth.
More so, about 80% of the population live and earn their living in rural areas with agriculture as the mainstay of their living.
The agricultural sector has maintained a steady growth rate of over 3.3% per annum over the last decade (Namibia Statistics Agency, 2017). Although this is greater than the growth rate of the population, this rate is considered to be unsatisfactory because it has failed to improve the livelihood of the rural people whose major occupation is agriculture.
This includes localised food insecurity and hunger that continues to be influenced by lack of resources endowments at the level of households. The strategy is a step forward towards laying the foundation for the ways to develop the agricultural sector, hence the national economy at large as well as poverty reduction, especially in rural areas.
In countries like Tanzania, the government has prioritised agriculture by setting up a consultation programme for 2 000 small-scale farmers from 13 different villages.
The main goal is “to increase the income of the smallholders by providing support on better cultivation techniques and new marketing opportunities to increase the profit from the sale of rice and cocoa”.
In conclusion, this project could also work in Namibia, if we closely examine areas in the two Kavango and Zambezi regions looking at the fact that there are majors mahangu and maize produce in the entire country as it will help to further a number of small businesses in the economy.
*Joseph Ruzendo is a teacher by profession and currently pursuing an MBA at the International University of Management.