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THE government is determined to dispel the negative perception by the youth that agriculture is associated with hardship and old age-driven activities.

This was said by the minister of environment and tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, when he handed over a N$3 million hydroponics farming system in the Okongo community forest in the Ohangwena region.

The project was funded by the Environmental Investment Fund.

“Over and above the many challenges that young people are facing such as a lack of access to credit and finance, lack of employment, there is an issue of bad perception of agriculture by the youth,” he said.

“Therefore, we must confidently articulate the path for young people who are interested in joining the agricultural sector as producers and safeguarding the natural resource management to do so with pride. This applies to all the 14 regions of our country,” said the minister.

Shifeta was happy that natural resource mobilisation efforts on climate finance are bearing fruits. He said the handover of this productive community project was a demonstration that such resources were reaching the intended beneficiaries.

He said the government is working on the quest of fighting climate change through established national policy frameworks like the implementation of the National Climate Change policy, and its Climate Change Strategy, and the National Determine Contribution.

“The Environmental Investment Fund has been instrumental towards contributing to this attainment as a national special purpose vehicle in accessing climate finance,” said the minister.

He said climate change had negatively affected Namibia as a country, and Ohangwena region specifically, thus making it one of the poorest regions in the country.

Subsequently, nearly 70% of Namibia’s population is directly dependent on subsistence agriculture and livestock farming, presenting a national impediment to fight climate change as it presents a serious challenge to our community livelihoods.

He said Namibia is experiencing an economic backslide and, according to analysts, this can be attributed to many domestic and global factors such as low productivity levels and the war in Ukraine.

“The agricultural sector’s performance requires joint effort to assist in keeping the country’s economy afloat and stabilising national food security.

“It is [incumbent] upon the government and relevant structures of authority to create an enabling environment from a policy point of view for youth development,” Shifeta said.

He urged the community of Okongo, especially the youth, to safeguard the investment and transform their livelihoods to reduce the number of young people migrating to urban areas, hoping for a better life, yet rural economic transformation is the better life.

The Okongo Community Forest covers about 55 918 hectares of land. The major sources of livelihood for the communities of the area are crop production, livestock rearing and collection of non-timber forest products.

The forest project has the potential to create more employment through horticultural production, sustainable income generation, and integrated natural resource business ventures through timber processing, bee farming and other forest products.