Fodder project falls apart

A cardboard-based fodder research project at Oshikuku, which could have revolutionised the farm feed industry in Namibia, is facing closure.Eighteen goats linked to the project are in critical condition, after going without food for days, while employees have not been paid for two months.The initiative, funded and technically supported by the Local Economic Development Agency (LEDA) of the urban and rural development ministry, through the Oshikuku town council, has run out of funds and can no longer afford to buy animal feed or pay employee salaries.On 16 September, the town council wrote to the ministry, saying it wants to shut down the project.It wants the goats to be auctioned and the employees, who have not received their salaries for two months, to be sent home.Food technologist and project business partner, Roderick Haraseb, who co-owns the project patent with the town council, has accused the local authority of showing no interest in the initiative.“The project has run out of funds and currently we cannot afford ingredients to produce feed or buy animal feed to feed the animals. I wrote several letters to the council, requesting them to support the project financially, but the council is not doing anything to support the project to buy animal feed or pay the salaries of the employees,” Haraseb said.Namibian Sun has had sight of letters he wrote to the council.“I am writing to express my disappointment and frustration with council's inaction regarding concerns raised in the letters of the 18/08/2019 and 06/09/2019. “I am getting an impression, unless council assures me otherwise, that council is not genuinely interested about the serious and urgent operational concerns and (the) rest of the content raised in these letters, since it's now taking a month without any action taken (sic). “As a business partner, who co-owns an industrial grade patent with it, it truly concerns me the level of seriousness of the Oshikuku town council is about industrialising Oshikuku to create jobs and improve its own local economy (sic),” Haraseb wrote to the council on 13 September.Oshikuku CEO George Hipondoka refused to comment, saying he needs to be guided by the council on what to say.In his letter to the urban and rural development ministry, dated 16 September, Hipondoka said the council is not in a position to support the project financially.“This letter serves to seek your authorisation to close off the Oshikuku animal feed research project. After considering a number of factors, such as the current economic situation the country finds itself in, the unavailability of funds to continue with the maintenance of the animals and (the) remuneration of project employees and the fact that your ministry has funded the project since (its) inception, as well as the fact we are unable to find an investor into the project, as the product is not yet registered as required by law, council has promptly resolved to close off the project,” the letter said.“In this light, council is also seeking authorisation to sell off the animals at a public auction and pay off the project employees.”Project delayedThe agriculture ministry had previously said it was not satisfied with the project's research station at Oshikuku and demanded that trials be carried out at the Omatjene Agricultural Research Centre, west of Otjiwarongo, to assess the feed composition in terms of energy, protein, mineral and wax content.After securing funding and technical support from the LEDA in April 2017, the project approached the agriculture ministry's department that deals with registrations, asking for the standards to be used at their research centre. They were told to go ahead, because there are no standards. Haraseb said they started producing animal feed from cardboard boxes and spent six months, from the end of April to October 2017, strictly feeding two cows and two goats with the new feed.They made use of state veterinarians to inspect the animals and their product gained positive responses from South African laboratories.On 2 August last year, Haraseb submitted an application for the registration of the farm feed, after he presented their study to the agriculture ministry's management.However, on 13 September last year, the ministry informed Haraseb that his application was not successful, and wanted the feed to be retested.Haraseb said there was no more money available to do the retesting.He also accused the ministry of not being serious from the beginning, saying they were not clear about what they wanted. ILENI NANDJATO

Fodder project falls apart

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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Fodder project falls apart

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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