Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders in the Kunene region have started distributing 200 bales of hay as immediate aid to the drought-stricken farmers, party’s presidential spokesperson Inaa Hengari has said.

Kunene has been experiencing drought since 2013 and many farmers in the region have been forced to drive out thousands of their livestock to other regions in search of grazing.

While most parts of the country recorded improved rainfall during the last two year’s rainy season, Kunene is still experiencing severe drought, which has led to food insecurity in that part of the country. “We have secured 200 bales of grass as immediate aid to the farmers in the Kunene region. We have also received donations of food parcels of which the leadership will make a handover,” Hengari said yesterday.

She also reassured farmers in the region and the rest of the country that the recurring drought in Namibia is a matter of serious concern and is receiving the party’s utmost attention both at the national and regional level.

“We are pleased to inform the nation that the PDM has adopted a two-pronged approach in aiding the drought-stricken farmers in the Kunene region and surrounding areas,” said the youthful Hengari who is also a member of parliament. 

PDM parliamentarian Vipuakuje Muharukua on Wednesday tabled a motion requesting lawmakers to visit Kunene and familiarise themselves with the persistent drought that had killed thousands of livestock in the area. Muharukua, who hails from Kunene, said farmers in the region are devastated and there is an urgent need for the government to start budgeting proactively for drought and to stop treating it as an emergency.

The majority of parliamentarians accepted the invitation, noting that indeed Kunene was a special case.

-ktjitemisa@nepc.com.na