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Trade no cushion for food security


THE country needs a shift from over-reliance on trade as a cushion for food security, to achieving food self-sufficiency anchored on intensive agriculture, improved domestic productive capacity and agricultural modernisation across the value chains in the sector.

This was said by the minister of agriculture, water and land reform, Calle Schlettwein, when he addressed the Intersectoral Coordination and Technical Exchange in Food Security and Agronomic Support Initiatives workshop in Windhoek yesterday.

Schlettwein said the agronomic subsector has a collective role to play within this new paradigm.

“It is this new policy emphasis and added impetus for implementation which should now define our collective interventions in the agriculture, water and land subsectors,” he said.

This policy emphasis resonates well with the global agenda for sustainable development as embedded in Namibia’s National development plans, he said.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 aspires for the eradication of hunger and poverty by 2030, he said.

These national ambitions of global proportions challenge farmers as role players in the agronomic sector, to depart from business as usual and silo approaches, he said.

“We must upscale our productive capacity, align our interventions for the purpose of realising these ambitions in the shortest time possible and within the available and integrated means of implementation,” said Schlettwein.

“To end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030, we should promote sustainable agricultural production schemes, support small-scale farmers and ensure equitable access to land, technology and markets.”

Furthermore, Schlettwein said targeted investments in enabling infrastructure, support services, technology and food production will inevitably lead to improved agricultural productivity.

At continental level, the role of agriculture as a lever for economic growth and social transformation is recognised through the adoption of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which is Africa’s policy framework for agricultural transformation, wealth creation, food and nutrition security, economic growth and prosperity for all.

The CAADP framework which, among others, aspires to achieve a minimum of 6% growth in agriculture, is to be domesticated through the national agriculture and food security investment plans and strategies.

“The ministry, with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organisation and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), has been seized with the process of formulating the First National Agriculture Investment Plan for Namibia,” said Schlettwein.

Namibia has enormous potential, not only to feed itself and eliminate hunger and food insecurity, but also to be a major player in global food markets, he said.

“This potential lies in its vast land resources, water, its human capital, infrastructure, institutions and markets. Recognising this

opportunity, the Namibian government designated agriculture as one of the priority sectors for economic advancement and social transformation.

“This ambition can be realised only when the current fragmentation is replaced with a seamless integration of all subsectors.

The specific interventions that could be pursued to unleash the potential of the sector entail investment in water generation and distribution infrastructure, given the primacy of water security and food security nexus.

“This is out of the recognition that any development, agronomic or otherwise, cannot take place without water,” he said.

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