Easy access at the tip of your fingers, subscribe to our daily ePaper version of our New Era Newspaper.
Home / Kavango East generates good income from timber
Kavango East generates good income from timber
2017-06-08Staff Report 2 Kuzeeko Tjitemisa Windhoek-Kavango East region generated over N$1.2 million from harvesting timber in 2016, says acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry Sophia Kasheeta. She attributed the income generated to the ministry issuing block permits to residents of forest communities in the Kavango east region to harvest timber to produce beds, chairs, tables, doors, poles, droppers and firewood. The communities that received permits include Kwandu, Zilitene, Muduva Nyangaga, George Mukoya, Cuma, Ncumcara, Ncamangoro, Mbeyo, Katope and Okongo. In the ministry’s 2015/2016 annual report, Kasheeta said during the same period the ministry also signed timber-harvesting contracts with contractors in the forest communities of Cuma, George Mukoya, Muduva Nyangaga and Okongo. Further afield, Kasheeta says her ministry has also finalised the National Food Safety Policy, which will ensure food safety for all customers across the country. The new measures will provide sufficient food safety guarantees on all food products traded nationally, or exported to other countries. The ministry also conducted a Crop Prospects and Household Food Security Assessment in February/March last year. “This assessment was aimed at providing an overview and provisional estimates of production and planted areas,” she said. The results of this assessment indicated drought conditions continued to affect Namibia, as most part of the country recorded another poor and below normal rainfall performance for the 2015/2016 rainy season. During the same period, eight new co-operatives were provisionally registered and the Division of Cooperative Development and Regulation (DCDR) received the business plans of eight co-operatives for review. “The finalisation of these plans would enable the co-operatives to apply for full registration,” she said. Through the efforts of the ministry, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) granted Namibia historical freedom from Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) at the OIE General Session of the World Assembly of delegates in May 2015. The certification applies to the south of the Veterinary Cordon Fences (VCF). “At the same session the OIE endorsed Namibia’s Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) or Lung sickness control programme,” she said. These programmes are road maps for achieving FMD freedom in the protection zone and CBPP freedom in the entire Northern Communal Areas (NCA). “A total of four drive-through disinfection facilities at Oshivelo, Tsintsabis, Muruni and Werda gates were constructed,” she said. These facilities would go a long way toward alleviating traffic congestion at these gates by facilitating speedy disinfection of vehicles during disease outbreaks in the NCAs, especially foot and mouth disease. 2017-06-08Staff Report 2
