NKURENKURU – The Kavango West governor, Sirkka Ausiku has appealed to the ministries of trade and finance to implement the growth at home strategy without further delay.

She said her region is also requesting for government offices to start buying local products. 

Ausiku said by doing this, many young people will get involved in agriculture.

“Our youth are ready to produce food but what they need is equipment, training and to find them a market for their products, now we have a solution. We are therefore, appealing to the ministry of trade, as well as the ministry of finance to implement the growth at home strategy immediately,’’ she said during the launch of the Agritech-Innovation Hub and donation of farming equipment to young smallholder farmers from Kavango West, Ohangwena and Kavango East.

The launch and donation event was held on Thursday at Nkurenkuru.

“Unemployment is a reality among youth as it stands at 48.7% nationaly, while at regional level it stands at 33%. We believe that agriculture and manufacturing
sectors can help in addressing unemployment,’’ she said. 

Ausiku said her office will work with young farmers that received the donation to become productive and create employment to others. At the same time, she requested them to take care of the materials, protect them against vandalism and theft. 

“I am further requesting Youth in Agriculture to continue supporting them with regular trainings,’’ she said.

The Agritech-Innovation Hub, which is expected to promote mechanised agriculture, is the first of its kind in Namibia and it will link young farmers to the latest agricultural technologies.

The governor stated that this is indeed a good initiative to connect young farmers from all 14 regions. 

“I am happy to stand here this morning to witness the launch of the Agri-Innovation Hub by Youth in Agriculture which is an organisation putting together young farmers in all 14 regions,’’ the governor said.

The hub is meant to identify challenges in the agriculture industry and come up with solutions. 

“Kavango West has identified agriculture, manufacturing and tourism as sectors that we believe with good investment, can help the region create needed employment and address poverty, especially amongst our youth,’’ she said.

“The Agritech-Innovation Hub is an innovation centre offering innovative solutions that help farmers and agripreneurs to upscale their food production, mitigate food waste and increase their profits including the climate change adaptations,’’ said Ndatulumukwa Haikali, the founder and executive chairperson of Youth in Agriculture Organisation.

The Chinese Embassy is providing financial support to the initiative through the Youth in Agriculture Organisation, and they provided the donated farming equipment to young farmers.