Africa-Press – Namibia. NO single institution, including the government, can single-handedly ensure food security in the country without the help of partners.
This was said by the World Food Programme (WFP) deputy country director Ericah Shafudah when the organisation signed an agreement with the Municipality of Otjiwarongo on food security at the United Nations House in Windhoek on Tuesday.
She said with the country’s land, water and manpower, Namibia fails to feed its 2,5 million people.
“We need to strengthen our thinking and focus, even if we start by taking baby steps that would have an impact, and grow from there,” Shafudah said.
“It is in this context that we are signing this agreement with the Otjiwarongo municipality – the first such agreement with a local authority – after putting heads together on how we can feed the rural poor from an urban agriculture perspective.
“We are happy we have this vision which will start small, but the vision is big as we try to find out how we can assist the government to advocate food security,” she said, adding that the agreement will run until 2030.
Shafudah said the WFP is the largest global humanitarian organisation with its headquarters in Rome, Italy.
She said the WFP has the dual mandate of saving and changing lives.
“That is to say instead of just promoting handouts, why don’t you use your expertise to assist the government to urge people to produce their own food and enhance food security?”
She said since independence, the WFP has been in the space of saving lives – especially by assisting the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture with the school feeding programme.
This changed in 2020 when the WFP focused on the changing-lives model.
“We are now clustered in three strategic pillars of food systems, human development and the role of women and the youth are emphasised, so is the digital transformation and the effects of climate change. This necessitated us to revisit our country strategic plans, aligning them to the country’s Vision 2030,” she said.
Otjiwarongo mayor Gottlieb Shivute thanked the WFP for its various programmes to accelerate the eradication of hunger and poverty in Namibia.
“Based on the WFP country report of 2021, about 64 631 people were assited and 85 tonnes of food were distributed, which resulted in a cash transfer of US$110 996, as well as community vouchers valued at US$411 553.
He said Otjiwarongo’s population grows at an average 3,6% to 6% annually, translating to about 40 000 residents and more than 50% of the total population living in the informal settlement.
He said the 2022 World Bank report on poverty and shared prosperity reveals that 1,6 million people in Namibia are living in poverty.
This is because 200 000 more Namibians have been pushed into poverty during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This project will benefit two schools at Otjiwarongo through the ‘Grow Home’ programme, in consultation with the education ministry, the agricultural municipal camp 3 farmers, and the Otjiwarongo Multipurpose Help Centre, a welfare organisation under the council that offers a feeding programme and educational support to schoolgoing orphans and vulnerable children at Otjiwarongo.
This was said by the World Food Programme (WFP) deputy country director Ericah Shafudah when the organisation signed an agreement with the Municipality of Otjiwarongo on food security at the United Nations House in Windhoek on Tuesday.
She said with the country’s land, water and manpower, Namibia fails to feed its 2,5 million people.
“We need to strengthen our thinking and focus, even if we start by taking baby steps that would have an impact, and grow from there,” Shafudah said.
“It is in this context that we are signing this agreement with the Otjiwarongo municipality – the first such agreement with a local authority – after putting heads together on how we can feed the rural poor from an urban agriculture perspective.
“We are happy we have this vision which will start small, but the vision is big as we try to find out how we can assist the government to advocate food security,” she said, adding that the agreement will run until 2030.
Shafudah said the WFP is the largest global humanitarian organisation with its headquarters in Rome, Italy.
She said the WFP has the dual mandate of saving and changing lives.
“That is to say instead of just promoting handouts, why don’t you use your expertise to assist the government to urge people to produce their own food and enhance food security?”
She said since independence, the WFP has been in the space of saving lives – especially by assisting the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture with the school feeding programme.
This changed in 2020 when the WFP focused on the changing-lives model.
“We are now clustered in three strategic pillars of food systems, human development and the role of women and the youth are emphasised, so is the digital transformation and the effects of climate change. This necessitated us to revisit our country strategic plans, aligning them to the country’s Vision 2030,” she said.
Otjiwarongo mayor Gottlieb Shivute thanked the WFP for its various programmes to accelerate the eradication of hunger and poverty in Namibia.
“Based on the WFP country report of 2021, about 64 631 people were assited and 85 tonnes of food were distributed, which resulted in a cash transfer of US$110 996, as well as community vouchers valued at US$411 553.
He said Otjiwarongo’s population grows at an average 3,6% to 6% annually, translating to about 40 000 residents and more than 50% of the total population living in the informal settlement.
He said the 2022 World Bank report on poverty and shared prosperity reveals that 1,6 million people in Namibia are living in poverty.
This is because 200 000 more Namibians have been pushed into poverty during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This project will benefit two schools at Otjiwarongo through the ‘Grow Home’ programme, in consultation with the education ministry, the agricultural municipal camp 3 farmers, and the Otjiwarongo Multipurpose Help Centre, a welfare organisation under the council that offers a feeding programme and educational support to schoolgoing orphans and vulnerable children at Otjiwarongo.
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