Agribank unveils virtual training for farmers

This advice was made by the chairperson of the Otjozondjupa regional council, Marlyn Mbakera, at the unveiling of virtual training material on specified farming practices by the Agricultural Bank of Namibia on Friday.“Farming offers endless opportunities and therefore, do not back away from exploring such opportunities due to lack of knowledge, use these materials to equip yourselves and conquer the endless opportunities in farming,” she stressed. The virtual training videos focus on poultry production, farm infrastructure, range land management, livestock production, as well as crop and horticulture production. The materials were introduced by the bank in line with its agri-advisory services function, whose long-term goal is to inspire positive attitudes in farmers towards agribusiness to improve productivity. Agribank's executive manager for marketing and customer strategy, Regan Mwazi, said at the launch: “Due to the disruptive nature of Covid-19 on all elements of doing business, the bank had to come-up with matching solutions to remain relevant to our stakeholders.” Agribank's agri-advisory services promote sustainable agricultural business ventures, while also building business relationships between clients, potential clients and the bank, he added. The training materials were developed with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and complement other media platforms through which Agribank shares agricultural knowledge. Agribank encourages the public and especially the youth, to use such platforms to enhance their farming knowledge. Since its establishment in 2017, the agri-advisory services function of the bank has benefitted 36 013 agri-enterpreneurs, of which 70% are small-scale farmers based in communal and rural areas, while 120 of the bank's clients are being mentored. The bank has also embarked on initiatives to roll-out intensive training programmes across all regions, hence the launch of the virtual training materials. Email: matthew@namibian.com.na

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