OKAHANDJA – Ten good reasons exist why sustainable and organic farming should be promoted in Africa, Dr Irene Kadzere, senior scientist of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, (FiBL) in Frick, Switzerland, told New Era at the first of two conferences on sustainable ecological crop and horticultural production that were staged over the past weekend in Okahandja.
According to Kadzere, the empowerment of communities and the creation of sustainable wealth, enhancing farmer learning and increasing biodiversity are the main objectives of FiBL, which is committed to working in partnership with private and public clients and institutions in Africa in order to realise the advantages of sustainable and organic farming. FiBL was one of eleven Namibian and international organisations that staged the two conferences in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry in Okahandja and Rundu.
The conference in Okahandja was aimed at large-scale farmers and the one in Rundu was presented for small-scale farmers. Kadzere said the ten advantages of organic and sustainable farming include the high land productivity through soil fertility strategies, intercropping, as well as risk mitigation and low-input technologies. Further, successful locally-based farms provide many business opportunities to non-farming enterprises, stimulating rural and general development, respond to increasing demands for organic food and respect the needs of future generations. The other advantage is the mitigation of hunger and poverty through locally based food systems.
“The modern approach of organic agriculture through blending local knowledge and wisdom with science and technology leads to a multitude of innovations. It creates therefore new jobs, highly needed and contributing to security and peace. Given all these facts, and the potential Namibia has to offer, organic farming is ideally suited for the country,” she noted. FiBL aims to place the debate on organic farming in developing countries on a rational base and to identify the challenges for organic and sustainable agriculture in Africa.
Stroy by Deon Schlechter