Food bank here at last

President Geingob yesterday announced that the food bank pilot project will be launched next Thursday.
Geingob, who met with a delegation of farmers’ unions, admitted that serious inequality still persists in Namibia.
He urged Namibians not to spend time discussing the causes of this inequality but to work together and address it instead.
Geingob also told the delegation that he wants to give a report after his five-year term to explain how the project has made a difference.
The pilot project will kick off in the Khomas Region and is facilitated through street committees by the former Cuban ambassador to Namibia, Angel Dalmau Fernandez.
The street committee approach is borrowed from Cuba and works the same as local neighbourhood watches.
Geingob lamented the fact that some people still go to bed hungry or without a blanket.
“There are people who are sleeping with hunger in this Katutura of ours. When I was driving past, the boys were sitting and were very angry when they were looking at my car passing,” he said.
He also announced that it would be ideal to recruit these “angry boys” into street committees for food distribution under the food bank project.
Members of the street committees, who will be responsible for food distribution and promotion of good hygiene, will receive a minimal income.


International expertise


According to Dalmau the idea is to recruit one street committee in each location (suburb), consisting of three members and a coordinator.
For the pilot project only two constituencies have been selected: the Tobias Hainyeko and the Samora Machel constituencies. The Moses Garoeb Constituency will follow in July.
According to Dalmau, the criterion used is the poverty mapping done in Namibia recently. He said, though, that some people might fall above the poverty line which is roughly N$400 income per person per month.
“It is very difficult; some may say they are left out. Some are coming with forms with ten people one household with no income. When I asked how these people are surviving, I am told the people ‘zula’,” he said.
He said he urged committee members to report as honestly as possible.


Retail concerns


A group of retailers also met with the president yesterday to discuss their contribution to the food bank project.
Speaking on behalf of the retailers, Namibia Trade Forum (NTF) chairperson Gideon Shilongo told the president that retailers are concerned over the health risks donating near-expired food items may pose.
According to him it would be important to ensure that donated food is consumed before the expiry date.
Shilongo also informed Geingob that some retailers rent warehouse or cooling facilities with just enough space for their own products.
“The willingness is there but if we may have to go back to the drawing board to discuss some of these issues,” he said.


Bumpy start


President Geingob cautioned against too sophisticated ideas for the food bank.
“We tried to start in a wrong way, we wanted to build things like abattoirs and then we saw the quotations and we saw it would defeat the purpose. You cannot say you are helping people with a N$40 million building,” he said.
Plans to establish the country’s first ever food bank struggled to get out of the blocks despite a generous N$5.5 million allocation for the last, current and next financial years.


JEMIMA BEUKES