Farmers commit to Operation Werengendje

About 710 hectares of mahangu fields have been ploughed in five constituencies of the Kavango East Region under Operation Werengendje since its launch in December last year.The food production programme was initiated by the governor of the Kavango East Region, Samuel Mbambo, towards the end of last year to assist and inspire residents of the region to produce their own crops to become self-sufficient and ensure food security.Operation Werengendje means 'Operation Termite'.It was revealed at a recent progress report meeting that 198 hectares were ploughed in the Ndonga Linena Constituency, 78 in Mukwe Constituency, 94 in Rundu Rural Constituency, 129 in Ndiyona and 211 in Mashare Constituency.Statistics for Rundu Urban were not released as not many farmers there responded to the programme.N$100 000 was allocated to each constituency to be utilised under Operation Werengendje.Of the N$600 000, only 25% has been used. The office of the governor has urged farmers to register for Operation Werengendje.Many of the administrative officers and councillors in the various constituencies reported that the operation started well in their constituencies thanks to the good rains received.Farmers constantly enquire about when their fields will be ploughed.Tractors, private and government owned, were allocated to each constituency to assist the farmers with ploughing.One of the challenges was that some farmers were not willing to pay the N$250 fee to have their fields ploughed, claiming that the fee was unaffordable.Another challenge is tractors breaking down.The chairperson of the Kavango East Region Farmers' Union, Hannes Balzar, said farmers in the region decided to support the project.Balzar called on the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry to allocate more tractors to the programme.Agriculture minister John Mutorwa, who was present at the meeting, said there was nothing better to restore human dignity than food. “Once there is sufficient food in the country, you can deal with the rest of the problems,” he said.NAMPA

Farmers commit to Operation Werengendje

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-01

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Farmers commit to Operation Werengendje

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-01

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