KATIMA MULILO - Despite the Zambezi region’s vast land for crop production and animal grazing, Zambezi governor Lawrence Sampofu yesterday expressed regret that there are no green schemes in the region.
This is despite the four traditional authorities (Mafwe, Masubia, Mayeyi, and Mashi) having given land for agriculture projects.
Delivering his state of the region address yesterday, Sampofu was disappointed that the multi-million-dollar Kalimbeza rice project is at minimal production.
The Kalimbeza rice project was envisaged to become the major rice producer, contributing towards food security in Namibia, but has over the years yielded little to poor rice harvests.
“There is nothing happening there. This rice project is supposed to be a very big thing,” Sampofu said.
Year in, year out, the government, through the agriculture ministry, continues to bail out the rice project with millions of dollars to save it from the brink of collapse.
This resulted in the farm not having planted rice for the past two years due to factors such as disconnected electricity, non-payment of employee salaries, a lack of fuel, uneven fields, and wrecked equipment.
“The community made available 196 hectares but only 40 ha has been used. Even to produce rice there is a problem, there are processes coming through. Unam wants to come in and take over Kalimbeza. They are doing very well at the Ogongo agricultural Unam campus. We were even invited to witness the harvesting of rice. Imagine, those ones in the iishanas [pans] are producing rice. What about us with fertile land?” he queried.
Hence, he said, they are busy engaging investors to come and invest in order to realise the undertone of “Zambezi - the Bread Basket” for food security.
Kabbe North councillor Bernard Sisamu, whose political jurisdiction includes Kalimbeza, also expressed disappointment, as the project is idle while the community allocated huge tracts of land to the government to produce rice.
Inadequate funding for the Kalimbeza rice project has had detrimental effects on its potential to become a premier rice producer.
“I have been engaging the ministry. I had some promises that they were supposed to be in the region by 1st April 2023. I was even informed that there is a N$10 million budgeted to upgrade the rice project but nothing is happening to date,” Sisamu expressed.
Apart from monetary challenges, wild ducks - although attractive and sometimes entertaining - are a menace at the Kalimbeza rice project as they destroy rice yields.
Nevertheless, Sampofu reported that Zambezi Horticulture Producers’ Association has progressed to back up the Zambezi region with food production. The association has formed a youth farming group to facilitate the involvement of the youth in agriculture.
- anakale@nepc.com.na
Photo: Kalimbeza
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