N$45m for drought-stricken farmers
The agriculture ministry paid out N$45 million to farmers affected by drought in the 2016/17 financial year.
More than N$45 million was paid out to farmers affected by drought under the 2016/17 Drought Marketing Incentive Scheme. Farmers south of the Veterinary Cordon Fence received the bulk of this money.
According to an assessment of the agriculture ministry's performance in the 2016/17 financial year, a total of N$45 083 880 was paid out to farmers affected by drought. Three of these were from the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) and 3 316 from south of the Veterinary-Cordon Fence.
N$157 659 was for transport services.
According to the ministry, under the Dryland Crop Production Programme, 4 011 farmers benefited from a fertiliser subsidy while 21 328 farmers benefited from improved mahangu and maize seeds. Furthermore, 10 134 farmers benefitted from ploughing services and 1 451 from weeding services.
This resulted in 17 583 hectares of land being ploughed and a further 3 077 hectares weeded using 823 unemployed youths who participated.
The ministry said it continued to implement a community-based management project for supplying water to rural communities. In the year under review, 17 boreholes were installed, 28 boreholes were cleaned and 60 water points were rehabilitated. A total of 36 small pipelines were constructed and 1 713 private off-takes were connected.
According to the ministry, the hydrological monitoring network was upgraded, maintained and expanded with the acquisition of 20 additional CELO Telemetry instruments and 10 sensors. Installations were done at Ngoma Gate, Lake Liambezi and Nkurenkuru.
A total of 257 sanitation facilities were constructed in 13 regions, excluding the Khomas Region. Community education on sanitation, health and hygiene was conducted prior to the construction of these facilities.
The ministry also said that the construction of the Neckartal Dam in the south was progressing well. At the main dam, roller-compacted concrete (RCC) has been placed in layers over the full length of the dam wall up to an elevation level of 742.4 metres. The highest elevation on the right bank is 749.6 metres.
Two river-diversion culverts were constructed at the bottom of the dam wall.
“These channels are to divert the water during seasonal river flows for the period of construction. The lower gallery was also completed within the RCC dam wall. The RCC dam wall also includes a conventional vibrated concrete (CVC) inlet-outlet structure which was constructed up to elevation level 752m with hydro-mechanical pipes.”
The ministry said the absence of a fence along the border with Angola remained one of the major challenges for the agricultural sector, making it difficult to control livestock movement across the border and prevent the spread of animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and lung sickness.
The country's first FMD case in 26 years was reported on 11 May 2015 in the Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions, while the last one was recorded at Etayi village on 22 July last year.
The government swiftly acted by imposing animal movement restrictions and allocating N$180 million, of which the largest portion was spent on procuring 3.7 million doses of FMD vaccine.
The vaccine was used for three rounds of vaccination and covered an estimated 1.1 million cattle.
“In an effort to respond to FMD outbreaks in the NCAs between May and July 2016, the following activities were undertaken: zoning, movement control, decontamination, disease surveillance, awareness creation, and procurement of equipment, consumables, vaccines and serial vaccines,” said the ministry.
A total of 213 permanent staff assisted by 826 temporary staff were deployed to control the outbreak. The outbreak was contained by 22 January 2016 and its success was due to tremendous support from the government, livestock farmers, farmers unions, the Meat Board of Namibia, Meatco, traditional authorities and other stakeholders.
The agriculture ministry has been allocated a budget of N$2.1 billion for the next financial year, which is 13.39% less than the previous year.
ELLANIE SMIT
According to an assessment of the agriculture ministry's performance in the 2016/17 financial year, a total of N$45 083 880 was paid out to farmers affected by drought. Three of these were from the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) and 3 316 from south of the Veterinary-Cordon Fence.
N$157 659 was for transport services.
According to the ministry, under the Dryland Crop Production Programme, 4 011 farmers benefited from a fertiliser subsidy while 21 328 farmers benefited from improved mahangu and maize seeds. Furthermore, 10 134 farmers benefitted from ploughing services and 1 451 from weeding services.
This resulted in 17 583 hectares of land being ploughed and a further 3 077 hectares weeded using 823 unemployed youths who participated.
The ministry said it continued to implement a community-based management project for supplying water to rural communities. In the year under review, 17 boreholes were installed, 28 boreholes were cleaned and 60 water points were rehabilitated. A total of 36 small pipelines were constructed and 1 713 private off-takes were connected.
According to the ministry, the hydrological monitoring network was upgraded, maintained and expanded with the acquisition of 20 additional CELO Telemetry instruments and 10 sensors. Installations were done at Ngoma Gate, Lake Liambezi and Nkurenkuru.
A total of 257 sanitation facilities were constructed in 13 regions, excluding the Khomas Region. Community education on sanitation, health and hygiene was conducted prior to the construction of these facilities.
The ministry also said that the construction of the Neckartal Dam in the south was progressing well. At the main dam, roller-compacted concrete (RCC) has been placed in layers over the full length of the dam wall up to an elevation level of 742.4 metres. The highest elevation on the right bank is 749.6 metres.
Two river-diversion culverts were constructed at the bottom of the dam wall.
“These channels are to divert the water during seasonal river flows for the period of construction. The lower gallery was also completed within the RCC dam wall. The RCC dam wall also includes a conventional vibrated concrete (CVC) inlet-outlet structure which was constructed up to elevation level 752m with hydro-mechanical pipes.”
The ministry said the absence of a fence along the border with Angola remained one of the major challenges for the agricultural sector, making it difficult to control livestock movement across the border and prevent the spread of animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and lung sickness.
The country's first FMD case in 26 years was reported on 11 May 2015 in the Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions, while the last one was recorded at Etayi village on 22 July last year.
The government swiftly acted by imposing animal movement restrictions and allocating N$180 million, of which the largest portion was spent on procuring 3.7 million doses of FMD vaccine.
The vaccine was used for three rounds of vaccination and covered an estimated 1.1 million cattle.
“In an effort to respond to FMD outbreaks in the NCAs between May and July 2016, the following activities were undertaken: zoning, movement control, decontamination, disease surveillance, awareness creation, and procurement of equipment, consumables, vaccines and serial vaccines,” said the ministry.
A total of 213 permanent staff assisted by 826 temporary staff were deployed to control the outbreak. The outbreak was contained by 22 January 2016 and its success was due to tremendous support from the government, livestock farmers, farmers unions, the Meat Board of Namibia, Meatco, traditional authorities and other stakeholders.
The agriculture ministry has been allocated a budget of N$2.1 billion for the next financial year, which is 13.39% less than the previous year.
ELLANIE SMIT
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