Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Namibian Prime Minister, Elijah Ngurare, has announced that as the drought relief programme comes to an end, the OPM has taken note of the delays and backlogs encountered in the delivery of drought relief to communities and has devised a plan for regional councils to complete the food distribution by the 31st of August 2025.
The Prime Minister this week in Parliament gave an overview of the undertakings of the programme, which was started as a result of the El Niño phenomenon and extremely below-normal rainfall recorded during the 2023/24 agricultural season that resulted in widespread crop failure, depleted rangelands, and acute water shortages across all 14 regions. These adverse conditions have significantly affected the livelihoods of many Namibians and compromised the food security of over 384,935 households, equivalent to 1.4 million people.
PICTURED: Namibian Prime Minister, Elijah Ngurare. Photo: Office of the Prime Minister (OPM Namibia)
Ngurare explained that the nationwide drought relief programme comprised: (i) food assistance to vulnerable households; (ii) livestock support programme; (iii) seed and horticulture provision; and (iv) water provision.
“The food assistance was provided to 384,954 households, equivalent to 1.4 million people across all fourteen (14) regions, as detailed in Annexure 1. This number includes 28,123 households from peri-urban areas and 1,835 households with malnutrition cases,” Ngurare said.
The monthly food basket consisted of 1 x 20 kg bag of unsifted maize meal or mahangu per household; 4 x 400g tins of fish, with an option to substitute with 1 x pack of 750g soya mince, 1 x pack of 2 kg beans, or 1 pack of 1.5 kg meat per household; and 1 x 750 ml bottle of cooking oil per household.
“A total of 86 elephants were allocated by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism to complement the drought relief programme. Out of the 86, 71 elephants were sustainably culled in Kavango West, Kavango East, Zambezi, Ohangwena, Oshana, Oshikoto, Erongo, and Otjozondjupa regions. The culling yielded approximately 142,000 kilograms of meat, which was distributed in 1.5 kg packs per household to drought-affected communities. In addition to the elephant meat, various wildlife species (blue wildebeest, eland, plains zebra, impala, buffalo, and hippo) were also sustainably culled in Mangetti National Park, Mahango National Park, Kwando and Buffalo Bwabwata National Parks (BNP), yielding a total of 157,550 kg of meat which was similarly distributed in 1.5 kg packs per household, restricted to Kavango East, Kavango West and Zambezi Regions due to veterinary protocols,” Ngurare said.
He added that in an effort to diversify the drought relief food basket and also to provide a market for drought-affected farmers to destock, the Government procured fresh frozen beef (1.5 kg packs) through Meatco Northern Communal Area (Meatco NCA (Pty) Ltd).
“The fresh frozen meat was distributed on a monthly basis to drought-affected households in the Kavango West, Kavango East, Zambezi, Khomas, Hardap, and //Kharas regions, providing an essential source of protein, complementing other food items,” Ngurare said.
He added that in addition to this, the Office of the Prime Minister has made efforts to digitalise the drought relief food distribution through the in-house developed system, known as the Commodity & Beneficiaries Management Information System (CBMIS).
“This transformative initiative is designed to automate the registration of beneficiaries and distribution of food through voucher cards at contracted SMEs in the regions. The system enables real-time data collection of beneficiaries, improved accountability, and greater efficiency and timely delivery of relief assistance to the affected communities,” Ngurare said.
He added that currently, there is a total of six cases on the theft of drought relief items under investigation by the Namibian police; these cases are from Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, Ohangwena, Kavango West, and Zambezi regions.
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