Pohamba boosts small-scale farmers
Speaking at the graduation of the Unam northern campuses last week, former president Hifikeypunye Pohamba undertook to address the lack of local support for northern farmers.
Former president and the outgoing chancellor of the University of Namibia (Unam) Hifikepunye Pohamba, urged local institutions to support local producers.
Pohamba, who also announced that his term as chancellor ends in November this year, made the remark during the Unam northern campuses graduation ceremony at Ongwediva last week.
The remarks came at a time when northern small-scale farmers are accusing government of not taking them seriously.
The small-scale farmers say there are no markets for their products after government failed to allow public institutions to buy their produce. This, they say, is despite the fact that government encourages them to invest their money into farming.
“I was delighted when I visited the Kalimbeza Rice Project in the Kavango West Region. Farmers there are producing very good rice, but I was saddened to hear that our business people do not want to buy the Kalimbeza rice to support local farmers. The same applies to other farmers who are producing fresh produce around here,” Pohamba said.
Pohamba said that he is going to appeal to government so that all local government institutions will start supporting local producers. He commended the country's correctional services, saying that they produce their own food.
“How can you import things that you can get locally? We must support our own people. I am going to talk to the government to start making use of products by local producers.”
Farmers who operate under the government's Green Scheme, private producers and livestock farmers under the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU), all of them farming in the Northern Communal Areas (NCA) claim that government institutions sideline their products.
They say government has created the Agro-Marketing and Trading Agency (AMTA) hubs in Rundu in the Kavango East Region and at Ongwediva in the Oshana Region to promote their produce, but AMTA also has no market and their produce ends up getting spoiled there.
They said the local market is saturated with food from commercial farms or South African imports.
The Olushandja Farmers Association, a group of private small-scale farmers at the Olushandja Dam, and the NNFU, claim that local government institutions such as school hostels, hospitals, prisons and others do not support them by consuming local produce. Catering companies supplying these institutions buy their products from communal farmers south of the red line and in South Africa.
AMTA's marketing manager, Sackeus Enkono, agrees with the Olushandja farmers.
He says the agency's mandate is to promote local products by creating market access, but there is nothing they can do if local catering companies and retailers do not support them.
“Local farmers supply us with their products and it is the duty of the catering companies and retailers to buy products from us, but they opt to get the same products produced locally from the south or South Africa. This is a limiting factor for our farmers who are producing the same quality products, but have no support,” Enkono said.
He said in order not to discourage the farmers AMTA takes up all their produce and tries to squeeze it into the informal market where it ends up competing with the farmers and their street-vendor customers.
Green Scheme farmers get financial and technical support from the government, but they are experiencing the same problem as the Olushandja farmers. Currently they are producing only tomatoes, onions, cabbage and butternuts to sell in the informal market.
NNFU farmers in the Zambezi, Kavango East and West, Ohangwena, Oshana, Oshikoto, Omusati and Kunene regions who met at Ongwediva last year said they needed meat processing facilities to promote local meat, but were frustrated by Meatco.
According to them Meatco was created by an Act of parliament but now operates as a company outside the provisions for state-owned enterprises.
They accuse the meat producer of favouring farmers south of the veterinary cordon fence.
The farmers also claim that Meatco cares only about the export market and not about the domestic market.
ILENI NANDJATO
Pohamba, who also announced that his term as chancellor ends in November this year, made the remark during the Unam northern campuses graduation ceremony at Ongwediva last week.
The remarks came at a time when northern small-scale farmers are accusing government of not taking them seriously.
The small-scale farmers say there are no markets for their products after government failed to allow public institutions to buy their produce. This, they say, is despite the fact that government encourages them to invest their money into farming.
“I was delighted when I visited the Kalimbeza Rice Project in the Kavango West Region. Farmers there are producing very good rice, but I was saddened to hear that our business people do not want to buy the Kalimbeza rice to support local farmers. The same applies to other farmers who are producing fresh produce around here,” Pohamba said.
Pohamba said that he is going to appeal to government so that all local government institutions will start supporting local producers. He commended the country's correctional services, saying that they produce their own food.
“How can you import things that you can get locally? We must support our own people. I am going to talk to the government to start making use of products by local producers.”
Farmers who operate under the government's Green Scheme, private producers and livestock farmers under the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU), all of them farming in the Northern Communal Areas (NCA) claim that government institutions sideline their products.
They say government has created the Agro-Marketing and Trading Agency (AMTA) hubs in Rundu in the Kavango East Region and at Ongwediva in the Oshana Region to promote their produce, but AMTA also has no market and their produce ends up getting spoiled there.
They said the local market is saturated with food from commercial farms or South African imports.
The Olushandja Farmers Association, a group of private small-scale farmers at the Olushandja Dam, and the NNFU, claim that local government institutions such as school hostels, hospitals, prisons and others do not support them by consuming local produce. Catering companies supplying these institutions buy their products from communal farmers south of the red line and in South Africa.
AMTA's marketing manager, Sackeus Enkono, agrees with the Olushandja farmers.
He says the agency's mandate is to promote local products by creating market access, but there is nothing they can do if local catering companies and retailers do not support them.
“Local farmers supply us with their products and it is the duty of the catering companies and retailers to buy products from us, but they opt to get the same products produced locally from the south or South Africa. This is a limiting factor for our farmers who are producing the same quality products, but have no support,” Enkono said.
He said in order not to discourage the farmers AMTA takes up all their produce and tries to squeeze it into the informal market where it ends up competing with the farmers and their street-vendor customers.
Green Scheme farmers get financial and technical support from the government, but they are experiencing the same problem as the Olushandja farmers. Currently they are producing only tomatoes, onions, cabbage and butternuts to sell in the informal market.
NNFU farmers in the Zambezi, Kavango East and West, Ohangwena, Oshana, Oshikoto, Omusati and Kunene regions who met at Ongwediva last year said they needed meat processing facilities to promote local meat, but were frustrated by Meatco.
According to them Meatco was created by an Act of parliament but now operates as a company outside the provisions for state-owned enterprises.
They accuse the meat producer of favouring farmers south of the veterinary cordon fence.
The farmers also claim that Meatco cares only about the export market and not about the domestic market.
ILENI NANDJATO
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