Drought: N$400m war chest needed
Govt declares drought state of emergency
I-Ben Nashandi, the executive director of the Office of the Prime Minister, yesterday confirmed Namibia's position on the drought crisis.
Namibia is in desperate need of over N$400 million to augment the N$825 million made available for its drought relief programme, ahead of announcing a state of emergency on drought.
This was confirmed yesterday morning by I-Ben Nashandi, the executive director of the Office of the Prime Minister, when he spoke on Namibia’s position on the drought crisis - which is expected to hit the agriculture sector the hardest.
He said while Namibia is in desperate need of food and supplies, the country is obligated to make the state-of-emergency declaration following the launch of the Southern Africa Development Community’s (SADC) US$5.5 billion regional humanitarian appeal to support those affected by El Niño-induced drought and floods.
“We have seen very low harvests and that is why we made N$825 million available, but the declaration is also to scale up our efforts and to raise awareness to the international community that we are in need of assistance. The availability of cereal is very low and the drought is prevalent almost in all parts of the country. We are going to need more resources and will need at least N$400 million more because the beneficiaries of this relief have now also doubled,” he said.
‘Biggest embarrassment’
According to economist Dr Omu Kakujaha-Matundu, President Nangolo Mbumba’s plea for food and aid is the “biggest national embarrassment”.
During the Omagongo Festival last weekend, Mbumba appealed to the SADC region and the rest of Africa to come to Namibia’s aid as the country is staggering under a devastating drought.
“‘Give us food, give us water’ while Ohangwena is sitting on the largest aquifer. The desalination project has been on the books forever. With some large rivers and fertile soils, green schemes have been killed. Money to be used to make the country drought-proof has been syphoned and diverted to other nice-to-have projects,” Kakujaha-Matundu fumed.
“Now the nation is going hungry and thirsty, and the least the government can do is sell hungry and thirsty people a pie in the sky - oil discovery and green colonialism, the so-called green hydrogen. Namibia is prone to drought. Will this government ever learn? Mind you, food aid creates opportunities for farmers in donor nations,” he said.
Silos running low
Meanwhile, available stock in government silos is running low, at only 16% of the total holding capacity.
The agriculture ministry’s recently issued Crop Prospects, Food Security and Drought Situation report revealed that Namibia's national food reserves - including maize and pearl millet with a collective storage capacity of 22 900 tonnes - currently hold only 3 758 tonnes.
From May 2023 to February 2024, a total of 236 300 tonnes of coarse grains (wheat, maize and pearl millet) were imported into the country.
The imports covered the deficits of wheat and maize, resulting in surpluses of 66 800 and 48 400 tonnes respectively.
However, Namibia still faces a deficit of 58 000 tonnes of pearl millet, which is expected to be covered through additional commercial imports.
This was confirmed yesterday morning by I-Ben Nashandi, the executive director of the Office of the Prime Minister, when he spoke on Namibia’s position on the drought crisis - which is expected to hit the agriculture sector the hardest.
He said while Namibia is in desperate need of food and supplies, the country is obligated to make the state-of-emergency declaration following the launch of the Southern Africa Development Community’s (SADC) US$5.5 billion regional humanitarian appeal to support those affected by El Niño-induced drought and floods.
“We have seen very low harvests and that is why we made N$825 million available, but the declaration is also to scale up our efforts and to raise awareness to the international community that we are in need of assistance. The availability of cereal is very low and the drought is prevalent almost in all parts of the country. We are going to need more resources and will need at least N$400 million more because the beneficiaries of this relief have now also doubled,” he said.
‘Biggest embarrassment’
According to economist Dr Omu Kakujaha-Matundu, President Nangolo Mbumba’s plea for food and aid is the “biggest national embarrassment”.
During the Omagongo Festival last weekend, Mbumba appealed to the SADC region and the rest of Africa to come to Namibia’s aid as the country is staggering under a devastating drought.
“‘Give us food, give us water’ while Ohangwena is sitting on the largest aquifer. The desalination project has been on the books forever. With some large rivers and fertile soils, green schemes have been killed. Money to be used to make the country drought-proof has been syphoned and diverted to other nice-to-have projects,” Kakujaha-Matundu fumed.
“Now the nation is going hungry and thirsty, and the least the government can do is sell hungry and thirsty people a pie in the sky - oil discovery and green colonialism, the so-called green hydrogen. Namibia is prone to drought. Will this government ever learn? Mind you, food aid creates opportunities for farmers in donor nations,” he said.
Silos running low
Meanwhile, available stock in government silos is running low, at only 16% of the total holding capacity.
The agriculture ministry’s recently issued Crop Prospects, Food Security and Drought Situation report revealed that Namibia's national food reserves - including maize and pearl millet with a collective storage capacity of 22 900 tonnes - currently hold only 3 758 tonnes.
From May 2023 to February 2024, a total of 236 300 tonnes of coarse grains (wheat, maize and pearl millet) were imported into the country.
The imports covered the deficits of wheat and maize, resulting in surpluses of 66 800 and 48 400 tonnes respectively.
However, Namibia still faces a deficit of 58 000 tonnes of pearl millet, which is expected to be covered through additional commercial imports.
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