OKANGHUDI – Former President Hifikepunye Pohamba has urged Namibians to take charge of their food security. 

He warned that the country’s vulnerability will persist unless collapsed agricultural projects are revived and made functional. 

Pohamba made these remarks on Friday during a courtesy visit to his house at Okanghudi village in Ohangwena region by a delegation led by the governor of Ohangwena, Kadiva Hamutumwa. 

The former president lamented the collapse of several large-scale agricultural projects initiated under Founding President Sam Nujoma, which once promised to feed the nation but now stand abandoned. 

“These include the Etunda Green Scheme, the Shadikongoro Irrigation Project, Musese Green Scheme and Uvungu Vungu Dairy Project, all of which at one point received millions of dollars in investment but have since shut down. 

“I will personally go to Kavango West and East to ask what happened to these projects,” he vowed, expressing frustration. 

Pohamba said reviving these projects would be a crucial step towards reducing Namibia’s reliance on other regions or imports for food. 

He specifically challenged the Ohangwena region to develop its agricultural projects, saying dependence on food from elsewhere is not good. 

“I know we cannot produce everything, but let’s produce what we can in our own region,” Pohamba said. 

He delegated the new governor to come up with gardens where food will be produced. 

He added that she must also get a crop field where mahangu and other crops will be grown. 

Recent food security assessments reveal that over 1.6 million Namibians – about 53% of the population – cannot afford a healthy diet. 

In addition, nearly half of the country faces high levels of acute food insecurity during drought years. 

Experts warn that unless local production is expanded and corruption curbed, the nation’s food dependency will only deepen. 

Hamutumwa assured the former president that Ohangwena is making strides in food security. 

“We want to ensure that no family goes to bed hungry because they lack access to nutritious food,” she said. 

She added that her office is in talks with the relevant offices to explore new irrigation schemes in flood-prone areas of Ohangwena to turn them into productive farmland. 

“Our vision is to make Ohangwena not just self-sufficient, but a surplus producer of certain crops,” Hamutumwa said. 

On the same day, Pohamba expressed concern over the millions of dollars stolen from State coffers in high-profile corruption scandals that could have been used to support the Namibian nation. 

He pointed to the Fishrot scandal, where fishing quotas were corruptly allocated for personal gain; the Namcor case, involving procurement fraud and mismanagement at a fuel supply company; and Namdia. 

Pohamba added that these are millions that should have gone into feeding our people, building agricultural projects and ensuring every Namibian has enough. 

He said that by focusing on sustainable food systems, increasing agricultural production and improving access to nutritious food, these initiatives would address both hunger and malnutrition, ultimately contributing to a healthier and more prosperous nation. 

-vkaapanda@nepc.com.na