Africa-Press – Namibia. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations have signed a new agreement worth N$48 million.
It aims to help farming communities withstand the country’s harsh drought cycles, in another landmark step towards climate-resilient agricultural practices.
With financial assistance from Japan’s Grant Assistance, which will see funding run from January 2026 to December 2027, the initiative aims to bolster food security and expand adaptive farming practices across five of Namibia’s most drought-prone regions, which are Erongo, Kunene, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa and Hardap regions.
It targets an estimated 24 000 people, which includes 6 000 youth and women-led households, with efforts marking a significant push to strengthen rural resilience at a time when climate shocks continue to undermine livelihoods and agricultural productivity.
Through these joint efforts, the initiative has for the past three years supported Namibia’s agriculture sector through funding of approximately N$40,7 million since 2022, funded through the Japan Supplementary Budget (JSB).
In 2022, funding was worth US$226 000 to a project titled emergency response to enhance resilience and mitigate climate-induced impacts on livelihoods, food and nutrition security of the most vulnerable households in Namibia, while in 2023, funding of US$1,200,907 went towards a response to mitigate multiple shocks and enhance resilient livelihoods.
Last year, funding worth US$758,916 was geared towards response and resilience building to improve livelihoods, food security and nutrition in locust affected regions of Namibia. For this year, the initiative focuses on enhancing the resilience of farming communities affected by drought through the promotion of adaptive agriculture and is funded through the Japan Grant Assistance. The project implementation period is 24 months until November 2027, and the total grant of this project is N$48 million.
Japan’s ambassador to Namibia, Shinichi Asazuma, said the initiative is important as it provides training directly to beneficiary smallholder farmers in the beneficiary regions, as well as training to relevant officers involved in the agriculture sector.
“The budget for this project exceeds the combined total of the previous three projects of N$40.7 million, reflecting Japan’s understanding of the critical importance of strengthening Namibia’s resilience to climate change and achieving NDP6. We understand that President Nandi-Ndaitwah prioritises food security and climate-resilient, competitive agriculture, setting a target to reduce agricultural imports by 80% by 2030, which aligns with the TICAD9 Yokohama declaration that includes the strengthening of agricultural systems to eliminate poverty and food insecurity in Africa,” said Asazuma. He added that “It may appear as if the project addresses the same type of issues employing the same or very similar approaches, however, the main purpose is to expand the reach of this type of Japanese funded interventions to a greater part of Namibia. Thus, the beneficiary regions this time around are all being assisted for the first time, namely the Erongo, Kunene, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa and Hardap regions.
We mostly have the necessary skills and technologies available to enhance resilience amongst our small holder farmers, but what is mostly required is the funding to enable the scaling out of the interventions to reach every farmer across the country.”
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