Windhoek: Farmers in the Kavango West Region have called for measures to address high transport costs and limited access to markets, as the Kavango West Farmers Union launched an outreach campaign in the Tondoro Constituency on Monday.According to Namibia Press Agency, the campaign aims to identify challenges affecting agricultural production, including the high cost of transporting produce to markets, limited access to support programmes and a lack of reliable information. Speaking during the engagement, Kavango West Farmers Union regional chairperson Johannes Hausiku said the union's focus is on improving production by establishing market access points closer to farmers.Hausiku stated, "We want to promote what farmers are doing, advertise their products and identify those producing quality goods. In that way, we are promoting our produce." He mentioned that the union's long-term plan is for each constituency to identify land for the establishment of a marketing point."We want farmers in each constitue ncy to identify land where a collection centre can eventually be constructed. Farmers will then be able to bring their produce, such as mahangu, to that centre," Hausiku added.Engelberth Kandjeke, the control administrative officer representing the Tondoro constituency councillor, expressed support for the initiative and urged the union to expand its outreach activities. "We are already familiar with some of the farmers you have been working with. It is a good initiative. You should expand it and continue engaging farmers so that they can access this information," Kandjeke said.Senior headman of Mburu-uru village, Sikumbu Thomas, highlighted the issue of long distances and high transport costs reducing farmers' earnings. "Those of us living in remote areas do not have adequate information on how things are done. Now that these engagements are taking place, people will learn how to market their produce," Thomas explained.Thomas pointed out that transporting produce to the Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency (AMTA) facility remained a major challenge. "Transport from Mburu-uru to Kahenge is a serious challenge. Even when a farmer has 10 bags of produce, the money earned after selling must be shared with the person who provided transport," he noted.Hausiku encouraged farmers to join the union to strengthen their collective voice. The outreach campaign will be conducted in all constituencies in the region, after which a report containing recommendations will be submitted to the relevant authorities.