Nuclear science to boost food security

Nuclear science and technology is one instrument through which the agriculture ministry has been striving to ensure national food security and zero hunger.

Deputy agriculture minister Anna Shiweda said this at a national conference on Nuclear Science and Technology Applications in Agriculture and Water.

She said that agriculture is one of the most important pillars of the Namibian economy, as 70% of the population depends on this sector for their livelihood.

Shiweda pointed out that agriculture is, however, highly susceptible and subjected to the impact of climate change and climate variability.

Innovation needed

She said that this negative impact often results in frequent and recurrent droughts and floods, reduced agricultural production and productivity, diminished levels of both underground and surface water resources, as well as degraded land.

"This is a clear indication that we need to continue implementing policies and develop innovative technologies that will enable us to cope with climate change and climate variability through the implementation of timely response, adaptation and mitigation strategies, which will in turn lead to improved agricultural resilience to the negative impact of climate change."

Shiweda said with the intensity and recurrence of droughts and floods as a result of climate variation, as well as global and regional pandemics of Covid-19, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), and other animal diseases, the ministry has implemented several interventions in cooperation with developing partners to combat and prepare to become more responsive and resilient to the threats posed by these natural calamities.

Improving capacity

She said that the ministry, through technical cooperation projects (TCP’s) with the International Atomic Energy Agency, has developed institutional and personnel capacity in the use of nuclear-related technologies as well as obtained support for the procurement of equipment such as a laser-based stable isotope analyser (LGR) for the analysis of stable isotopes in water samples and a plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) for residue analysis for animal diseases-related testing activities.

Furthermore, the ministry has developed improved varieties for cowpea and sorghum with high yield and drought tolerance through mutation breeding.

These varieties are being multiplied under the government's seed production programme for distribution across crop production regions.

These results show the importance of nuclear-related technology - a technology that is not fully exploited in addressing current crop production challenges such as fall armyworm and African locust that are contributing to poor yields.

Skills development

Shiweda said that specifically on capacity building in the area of plant health, more than 20 technical staff members received short- and long-term training through fellowships, scientific visits and short courses in the use of nuclear-related technologies that are applied in plant breeding and crop production studies.

"Over the years, Namibia has been experiencing outbreaks and infestations of different pests, such as locust, American grain borer, and fruit flies, that destroyed crops and grazing and subsequently reduced crop yields and livestock production."

She said that some countries in the world are using nuclear techniques to combat those pests. Namibia should therefore explore the possibility of using the same techniques to reduce the population of pests.