Unions reveal desperate drought conditions

The Namibia Agriculture Union (NAU) and the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers' Union (NECFU) held a meeting with agriculture minister Alpheus !Naruseb to discuss the ongoing drought.

According to the NAU the minister was informed about the desperate conditions prevailing in most parts of the country.

“The minister sympathises with the problem and has already visited the Hardap irrigation scheme,” according to the NAU.

Due to the low levels of the Hardap Dam, water supply to the local irrigation scheme has been stopped.

The union said it was also brought to the attention of the minister that recovery from the ongoing drought will take place over the next three to five years.

A submission was therefore made by the NAU about possible solutions that can be implemented to help farmers recover.

The implementation of the long-term drought policy was also discussed.

“The draft drought policy has been under discussion for some time already, without any concrete implementation.”

According to the union !Naruseb was requested to finalise this long-term drought strategy so that implementation can take place

“The minister was urgently requested to compile a task team between all roleplayers to find solutions for the above three points,” the NAU added.

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