Ohangwena farmers seek grazing in Angola
Livestock farmers in the Ohangwena Region have started looking for grazing areas in neighbouring Angola due to poor rainfall and flooded rangelands.
This was announced by governor Walde Ndevashiya on Monday during his state of the region address.
He said his office has received several calls from farmers through their traditional authorities, seeking an audience with their Angolan counterparts so they can save their livestock.
“[The] region is experiencing a severe drought that will impact in most - if not all - the constituencies. The office of the governor has been inundated with calls from farmers and traditional authorities from the region, requesting for dialogue between the Namibian and Angola authorities on the issue of livestock grazing,” he said.
He added that this presents a need for Namibian authorities to convene a high-level meeting and engage Angola to discuss the matter.
“This should seek to explore the possibility of formalisation and granting of grazing rights, notably in the Cunene and Cuando Cubango provinces, given the influx of cattle farmers into that country in search of better pasture,” he said.
Year of revival
Ndevashiya’s state of the region address primarily focused on programmes and projects geared towards socio-economic revival, in line with 2023’s ‘year of revival’ theme.
He said Ohangwena continues to strive for socio-economic emancipation for all residents, a collective activity that each of us should make an individual responsibility to arrest the situation and rescue the region.
“We have observed that most areas in the region have experienced less rainfall over the past months, which has led to an impeding situation where poor crop harvest and poor grazing rangeland is expected for the current rainy season,” Ndevashiya said.
He noted that as reported in the 2019 livestock census by the Meat Board of Namibia, Ohangwena has a large number of livestock producers, while most residents depend on livestock farming for their livelihood.
This was announced by governor Walde Ndevashiya on Monday during his state of the region address.
He said his office has received several calls from farmers through their traditional authorities, seeking an audience with their Angolan counterparts so they can save their livestock.
“[The] region is experiencing a severe drought that will impact in most - if not all - the constituencies. The office of the governor has been inundated with calls from farmers and traditional authorities from the region, requesting for dialogue between the Namibian and Angola authorities on the issue of livestock grazing,” he said.
He added that this presents a need for Namibian authorities to convene a high-level meeting and engage Angola to discuss the matter.
“This should seek to explore the possibility of formalisation and granting of grazing rights, notably in the Cunene and Cuando Cubango provinces, given the influx of cattle farmers into that country in search of better pasture,” he said.
Year of revival
Ndevashiya’s state of the region address primarily focused on programmes and projects geared towards socio-economic revival, in line with 2023’s ‘year of revival’ theme.
He said Ohangwena continues to strive for socio-economic emancipation for all residents, a collective activity that each of us should make an individual responsibility to arrest the situation and rescue the region.
“We have observed that most areas in the region have experienced less rainfall over the past months, which has led to an impeding situation where poor crop harvest and poor grazing rangeland is expected for the current rainy season,” Ndevashiya said.
He noted that as reported in the 2019 livestock census by the Meat Board of Namibia, Ohangwena has a large number of livestock producers, while most residents depend on livestock farming for their livelihood.
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