The GIZ Farmer Business School (FBS) is hosting two weeks of training for 24 trainers across the country to promote entrepreneurship and business skills among smallholder farmers in the country.
The training for trainers workshop, which commenced at Rundu on Tuesday, will among others focus on an introduction to farm management tools and methods of calculation of these key tools by means of practical exercises.
Technical Advisor for the GIZ Farmers Business School, Berry Manda on the sidelines of the training said the approach builds on experiential learning and targets a mindset change among farmers to identify themselves as entrepreneurs and investors.
He said this development is a prerequisite for the adoption of improved agricultural techniques, the exploitation of new market opportunities and investments in agricultural production, which lead to improved productivity and increased income.
On his part, Kavango East Governor Bonny Wakudumo commended the GIZ Farmers Business School for initiating training aimed at planting a seed of entrepreneurship amongst farmers in the region.
He said the training supports the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform in strengthening the resilience of the food sector in general, and the adaptation capacity to climate change among smallholder farmers in communal areas in particular.
The Farmer Business School targets value chain farmers in 10 regions namely Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Zambezi, Oshana, Ohangwena, Oshikoto, Omusati, Omaheke and Otjozondjupa.
“I regard Namibia as lucky to be added to other African countries to receive such capacity-building intervention. This is a special occasion that marks a hallmark of farming community empowerment,” Wakudumo noted.
He said farmers will be taught how to plan their activities, how to target investments of labour, land and capital for better yield, quality, and markets for their produce.
Wakudumo further called upon beneficiary farmer trainers to grasp the knowledge and skills that will enable them to capacitate farmers that they will be training in different communities to improve their entrepreneurial skills.
Since 2010, the Farmer Business School has been implemented in 24 countries in Africa. It has a outreach that exceeds 1.4 million smallholder farmers.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
