Handouts alone 'won't beat hunger'
The struggle against hunger and poverty is not necessarily about promoting free food handouts, but rather about farmers increasing production in the country.
This is according to deputy agriculture minister Anna Shiweda, who said it is also about creating a policy, legislative, financial and technical environment for farmers to increase food production.
Shiweda was speaking at the commemoration of World Food Day held in the Oshikoto Region earlier this week.
The day is dedicated to tackling world hunger.
Shiweda said agriculture is an important sector in the Namibian economy, on which the majority of Namibians depend for their livelihoods and food security.
“It is also well-known that Namibia is the driest country in sub-Sahara Africa and that the agriculture sector is often subjected to unfavourable climatic conditions, such as droughts and floods, which have become more frequent and intense over the years due to the effects of climate change.”
Shiweda said the aim of the World Food Day is therefore to heighten public awareness about world food problems and scarcity, and to strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.
“Given the unfavourable climatic conditions in which Namibian agricultural production takes place, it means that Namibia is part and parcel of this struggle, because our population often also faces the challenges of food insecurity that are attributed to the unavailability, inadequacy and inaccessibility of food.”
Shiweda said it is important to point out that ensuring food security for all is not necessarily about promoting free food handouts.
To this effect, SADC adopted a model that will guide the celebration of the World Food Day in the region.
This model advocates for capacity building in the area of food production, and calls upon all member states to mark the celebration of this day with the establishment of a food production project at a particular location.
Agriculture is one of the sectors that government has singled or prioritised in the Fifth National Development Plan (NDP5) and the Harambee Prosperity Plan to be fast-tracked.
Therefore, government has been implementing policies and programmes aimed at supporting farmers to improve their productive capacities.
Shiweda said some of those programmes are the Dry Land Crop Production Programme and the green schemes and the Harambee Comprehensively Coordinated and Integrated Agricultural Development Programme.
These programmes respond well to the continental and regional initiatives on agriculture and food security, including the capacity building model.
“One cannot wage a struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty without the means of production, especially land. It was precisely for this reason that our forefathers initiated the struggle against colonialism for the political and economic freedom of our motherland, Namibia.
“While this struggle was about political freedom, by extension it also included the freedom from hunger, ignorance and poverty. Land, as a factor of agricultural production, was one of the main core drivers of the armed liberation for freedom,” Shiweda added.
ELLANIE SMIT
This is according to deputy agriculture minister Anna Shiweda, who said it is also about creating a policy, legislative, financial and technical environment for farmers to increase food production.
Shiweda was speaking at the commemoration of World Food Day held in the Oshikoto Region earlier this week.
The day is dedicated to tackling world hunger.
Shiweda said agriculture is an important sector in the Namibian economy, on which the majority of Namibians depend for their livelihoods and food security.
“It is also well-known that Namibia is the driest country in sub-Sahara Africa and that the agriculture sector is often subjected to unfavourable climatic conditions, such as droughts and floods, which have become more frequent and intense over the years due to the effects of climate change.”
Shiweda said the aim of the World Food Day is therefore to heighten public awareness about world food problems and scarcity, and to strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.
“Given the unfavourable climatic conditions in which Namibian agricultural production takes place, it means that Namibia is part and parcel of this struggle, because our population often also faces the challenges of food insecurity that are attributed to the unavailability, inadequacy and inaccessibility of food.”
Shiweda said it is important to point out that ensuring food security for all is not necessarily about promoting free food handouts.
To this effect, SADC adopted a model that will guide the celebration of the World Food Day in the region.
This model advocates for capacity building in the area of food production, and calls upon all member states to mark the celebration of this day with the establishment of a food production project at a particular location.
Agriculture is one of the sectors that government has singled or prioritised in the Fifth National Development Plan (NDP5) and the Harambee Prosperity Plan to be fast-tracked.
Therefore, government has been implementing policies and programmes aimed at supporting farmers to improve their productive capacities.
Shiweda said some of those programmes are the Dry Land Crop Production Programme and the green schemes and the Harambee Comprehensively Coordinated and Integrated Agricultural Development Programme.
These programmes respond well to the continental and regional initiatives on agriculture and food security, including the capacity building model.
“One cannot wage a struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty without the means of production, especially land. It was precisely for this reason that our forefathers initiated the struggle against colonialism for the political and economic freedom of our motherland, Namibia.
“While this struggle was about political freedom, by extension it also included the freedom from hunger, ignorance and poverty. Land, as a factor of agricultural production, was one of the main core drivers of the armed liberation for freedom,” Shiweda added.
ELLANIE SMIT
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