Namibia at high risk of food shortages

Indications suggest that Namibia will experience serious food shortages, especially for staple cereal crops, and will require food imports from outside Namibia to cover the demand."Unfortunately, our neighbours, on whom we usually depend, have also received below-normal rainfall, which significantly reduced their cereal production," said agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein this week.As a result, Namibia will have to import cereals from other sources outside the SADC region.“This, in turn, means the domestic food basket costs a lot for local consumers,” the minister said.Increasing pressures Schlettwein was speaking during the ministry’s annual planning workshop for the 2024/2025 financial year.He said Namibia&#039;s growing population has put pressure on resources such as land, agriculture and water.Namibia&#039;s population has doubled since independence, from 1.4 million to 3.3 million.“Going into the future will be more difficult, not easier, since the resources, whether land for agriculture or water, have not grown.”He said it is common knowledge that about 70% of the Namibian population directly and indirectly depends on agriculture for their livelihoods.Rethink strategies Schlettwein underlined that the impact of this year&#039;s below-normal rainfall and erratic rainfall patterns will particularly be felt in the agriculture sector – a mainstay and lifeline for a majority of the population.“This is yet another manifestation of the reality of climate change and climate variability phenomena, which requires us to rethink our agricultural production systems and strategies focusing on irrigation," the minister said.He said government programmes, such as the dry-land crop production programme, are entirely dependent on seasonal rainfall and face steep hurdles.“It is evident, therefore, that these unfavourable climatic conditions erode our capacity to increase food production, limiting our ability to ensure national food security.”Schlettwein said this also impedes their efforts to achieve the national goal of food self-sufficiency.The 2024 Crop Prospects, Food Security and Drought Situation report warned that Namibia will likely experience widespread crop failures, resulting in severe food shortages.“This situation is yet another wake-up call for us as a country to reconsider our food production systems and come up with innovative climate-smart strategies that will make the agriculture sector more responsive and resilient to the impact of climate change and climate variability," the minister said.

Namibia at high risk of food shortages

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-05

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Namibia at high risk of food shortages

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-05

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