MINISTER of land reform Utoni Nujoma has called on the people of Otjetjekua in the Omusati region’s Ruacana constituency to make their area a model for livestock farming in the communal areas of Namibia.
Nujoma made the call on Thursday when he issued a leasehold certificate to 48 communal farming households under the Otjetjekua Small-Scale Farmers’ Cooperative in the Ruacana constituency.
The Otjetjekua Small-Scale Farmers’ Cooperative came about some three years ago when the then Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, the Ministry of Land Reform’s predecessor, under its Programme for Communal Land Development (PCLD) embarked on improving and harmonising communal farming in the area.
The European Union (EU) and German government financially and technically support the PCLD through Germany’s KfW project.
The 48 households of Otjetjekua consist of 288 people involved in livestock farming on 54 000 hectares of land designated for agricultural production.
Nujoma said infrastructure such as a total of 150 kilometres of external and internal fences on farming units, plus five multipurpose kraals have been established at Otjetjekua, at a cost of N$6,8 million.
“The development of water infrastructure, six boreholes and a three kilometre pipeline has been completed at a cost of N$4 million, meaning an amount of around N$10 million was spent for the whole project,” the new land reform minister noted.
Nujoma handed over the infrastructure to the Otjetjekua Small-Scale Farmers’ Cooperative.
He said the main goal of the PCLD is to improve and secure the livelihoods of the people living in the communal areas.
“Through this important development, the people of Otjetjekua will be able to compete nationally with regards to livestock improvement and land resource management,” the minister explained.
He encouraged the Otjetjekua Small-Scale Farmers’ Cooperative members to aim for farming with animals of good quality and to ensure that they develop from subsistence communal farmers to commercial farmers.
Speaking at the same event, Omusati governor Erginus Endjala noted that the government, through the Ministry of Land Reform, has designed a resettlement programme which is aimed at empowering communal farmers to make a meaningful contribution to the country’s economy.
Endjala wants the people of Otjetjekua to use the designated land for the intended purposes in order to prevent cancellation of their leasehold certificate.
Similar projects have been realised at places such as Amarika, Uusathima and Onamatanga in the Omusati region.
– Nampa
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