Deputy Executive Director in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Mildred Kambinda has emphasised the importance of developing a new climate adaptation programme for Namibia.
Kambinda said this in a statement delivered on her behalf at the opening of the Conservative Agricultural Programme 2 Development Workshop in Swakopmund on Monday.
The new climate adaptation programme will be implemented at the end of the current Comprehensive Conservation Agriculture Programme (CCAP) in order to ensure food and nutrition security, the deputy executive director said.
The workshop, which is being attended by Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) members, is reviewing the successes and challenges that farmers met in implementing the first CCAP before deciding on the way forward.
Kambinda noted that Namibia is an arid country with varying and low rainfall, soil and terrain conditions that are generally not conducive to conventional agriculture and food production.
“Conservation agriculture has been promoted as an entry point to climate smart agriculture and has the potential to contribute to mitigation of some of the climate change and food systems challenges in Namibia,” she added.
The CCAP was adopted in 2015 to counter land degradation and to adapt to climate change through the adoption of conservation agriculture as a basis for sustainable crop production and improved food security at national and household level.
Conservation agriculture can prevent losses of arable land while regenerating degraded land by promoting minimum soil disturbance, maintenance of a permanent soil cover, and diversification of plant species.
The ministry, with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and consultants, recently evaluated CCAP in order to generate knowledge from the implementation experience. This was done by assessing the processes and achievements, which will in turn inform the development of the new climate adaptation intervention.
FAO Assistant Representative Ferdinard Mwapopi at the same event explained that the organisation has been at the forefront of promoting the adoption of conservation agriculture across southern Africa, including Namibia, in order to safeguard the livelihoods of families and communities who rely on rain-fed crop agriculture to survive.
“FAO is capacitating the ministry to promote conservation agriculture principles to help farmers increase production and productivity, thus reducing risks and building resilience to climate change,” Mwapopi noted.
The workshop ends on Friday.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
