Call on govt to transport fodder
Despite various efforts by the government to assist livestock farmers with animal fodder as part of drought relief assistance, some farmers in the Kunene Region reportedly do not have the means to collect the fodder from constituency offices.
Famers told Nampa over the weekend that although the government is trying its best to fight the ongoing drought, they want the state to offer transport to deliver the fodder at their respective farming areas.
“I am farming about 100 kilometres away from the town where I collect the drought relief assistance for my animals but I do not have transport. My donkeys and horses are no longer reliable because of the drought situation. If I use them to go and collect the fodder, I am sure by the time we arrive they will be dead. They do not have the energy,” said Alfred /Huseb, a livestock farmer in the region.
He added that it would be greatly appreciated by the farmers if the government provides vehicles to off-load the fodder at farms of livestock farmers who do not own vehicles.
Another farmer that is based in the Doro !Nawas conservancy, Wilhelmina !Haoes, said that she pays a neighbour to collect her fodder.
“I pay cash to my neighbour and sometimes I do not have it, then I pay my neighbour by sharing grass from some of the fodder I get from the programme. I am happy with the government's efforts to assist us with animal fodder but the challenge is collecting it on my own. I do not have the means to travel to Khorixas,” she said.
!Haoes noted that she is not the only one in her area that her neighbour is helping to bring the fodder home.
The Kunene Region is one of the regions hardest hit by the ongoing drought.
Another farmer, Jesaja Uri-Khob, said that he is willing to collect fodder with his donkey cart but afraid that the donkeys might die due to the distance he has to travel.
“I cannot use the horses to collect the fodder because they are very thin and vulnerable and could easily die. The drought has hit us hard,” he said.
– Nampa
Rodney Pienaar
Famers told Nampa over the weekend that although the government is trying its best to fight the ongoing drought, they want the state to offer transport to deliver the fodder at their respective farming areas.
“I am farming about 100 kilometres away from the town where I collect the drought relief assistance for my animals but I do not have transport. My donkeys and horses are no longer reliable because of the drought situation. If I use them to go and collect the fodder, I am sure by the time we arrive they will be dead. They do not have the energy,” said Alfred /Huseb, a livestock farmer in the region.
He added that it would be greatly appreciated by the farmers if the government provides vehicles to off-load the fodder at farms of livestock farmers who do not own vehicles.
Another farmer that is based in the Doro !Nawas conservancy, Wilhelmina !Haoes, said that she pays a neighbour to collect her fodder.
“I pay cash to my neighbour and sometimes I do not have it, then I pay my neighbour by sharing grass from some of the fodder I get from the programme. I am happy with the government's efforts to assist us with animal fodder but the challenge is collecting it on my own. I do not have the means to travel to Khorixas,” she said.
!Haoes noted that she is not the only one in her area that her neighbour is helping to bring the fodder home.
The Kunene Region is one of the regions hardest hit by the ongoing drought.
Another farmer, Jesaja Uri-Khob, said that he is willing to collect fodder with his donkey cart but afraid that the donkeys might die due to the distance he has to travel.
“I cannot use the horses to collect the fodder because they are very thin and vulnerable and could easily die. The drought has hit us hard,” he said.
– Nampa
Rodney Pienaar
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