Staff Reporter
Windhoek-Drought-stricken, the Warmbad and Bethanie areas have hailed the expansion of an initiative whereby members of the Namibian Agricultural Union (NAU) in the north of Namibia assisted their NAU counterparts in the south.
NAU members in the northern and eastern parts in the country with surplus fodder started a programme to assist NAU members in the drought-stricken areas of the south. This assistance includes delivery of grass as well as lucerne, bought from farmers in Hardap.
This is to help farmers feed their core herds to enable them to continue farming again after this rainy season. This help to NAU members now also includes communal and resettlement farmers in drought-stricken areas.
Apart from grass that was donated by farmers in the northern and eastern areas, lucerne was also bought with the generous support of institutions, such as FNB, who contributed N$100,000 to the initiative, and Sanlam, who also contributed N$10,000. The money will be used to buy lucerne and distribution will take place through the Keetmanshoop and Karasburg extension offices.
Contribution by other NAU famers associations and individual NAU members was used to pay for the transport of donated grass to these areas. In some cases beneficiaries were also requested to contribute to the transport costs.
NAU president Ryna van der Merwe expressed satisfaction with the initiative, saying it will now also benefit communal and resettlement farmers, who are finding it tough after experiencing devastating droughts.
The NAU initiative comes in the wake of Agricultural Minister John Mutorwa’s appeal to resettlement farmers last week to also adopt smart agricultural practices, including diversifying their farming enterprises.
Communal and resettlement farmers in the deep south expressed gratitude towards the NAU initiative, saying every bit of help is welcomed in these tough times. They were also thankful for the government’s support with infrastructure development and rehabilitation.