Kunene: Kunene Region Governor, Vipuakuje Muharukua has urged farmers to modernise their outdated farming practices to enhance production, increase profits, and achieve self-reliance during drought periods.
According to Namibia Press Agency, the Kunene region has faced one of the worst droughts for over a decade, resulting in the loss of more than 90 percent of the region's livestock. Muharukua believes that integrating modern farming methods is crucial for farmers to generate wealth through crop and livestock production.
'It is imperative for our resilience and wealth creation to modernise our rural agriculture away from subsistence farming that is currently defined by limited crop yields and high reliance on erratic rainfall patterns,' he said. These remarks were made during his first State of the Region Address (SORA) on Monday at the Kunene Regional Council chambers in Opuwo, under the theme 'Kunene Region: Shifting from Promise to Wealth and Progress.'
Muharukua stressed the need for farmers in the region to upscale crop production, improve irrigation systems, and provide better access to markets. He noted that these areas hold significant developmental potential. 'Building a resilient agricultural sector is crucial. The future direction should focus on climate-smart agriculture - adopting practices and technologies that maximise productivity per drop of water and maintain the health of the land,' he explained.
To achieve these goals, Muharukua emphasized that Kunene should promote drought-resistant crops and livestock, including traditional crops that can be reintroduced or improved. He highlighted hardy grains such as sorghum and pearl millet, along with high-nutrition legumes, as crops that can be cultivated using techniques like drip irrigation, conservation tillage, and rainwater harvesting to manage low rainfall.
Most households in the region continue to rely on the government feeding programme for survival; hence, Muharukua believes that ensuring food security while producing marketable surpluses is vital. 'Crucially, these efforts should build on indigenous knowledge of the land, blending it with modern innovations, thereby empowering local farmers as pioneers of sustainable, climate-smart agriculture,' he added.
He further stated, 'In alignment with environmental sustainability, economic growth, transformation, resilience, and land use, our office has developed a concept note that will serve as the foundation for consultations with all local authority councils and interested commercial farmers. This initiative aims to encourage the formation of public-private partnerships between these stakeholders for food production.'