The operator of the privately-run Musese Green Scheme in the Kavango West fears that the maize placed in two open dens as well as the maize that is still to be harvested from their fields could end up being spoiled by early rainfall.
Winni Metzger told The Namibian on Saturday that at the moment they have a lot of maize, some of which are in silos at the green scheme, some in two open dens, while some fields have not been harvested.
This situation, he says, is because they no longer mill maize for the School Feeding Programme in the Kavango West region and the Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency Amta is not buying maize from them anymore.
He explains that the biggest challenge is the quantity of maize that is still to be stored because the silos are full, expressing the fear that this product can be damaged by early rainfall.
He says other green schemes in the country are also facing the same problem and unless Amta quickly starts buying maize from the green schemes the product will be wasted. “That is the biggest issue now,” says Metzger.
He explains that when Musese and Kanyikama green schemes were milling for the School Feeding Programme, more maize was being processed for the programme, as the demand for maize was high and they were also buying maize from other green schemes for milling, in addition to Amta also buying from them, which is not the case now.
He says this situation has forced them and other green schemes to take maize to Namib Mills and Bokomo silos in Windhoek but, these silos are small and are constantly full.
“We only take 15 to 20 loads a week to Windhoek.
Now Musese, Kanyikama – a smaller community-based green scheme of Metzger located at Kanyikama village – Mashare Sikondo, Etunda, Shadikongoro and Ndonga Linena green schemes all have maize outside their silos, either in dens which are open or maize which is not yet harvested, and that is a crisis we face, especially for food security and with El Nino predicted for next year,” says Metzger.
He says if it rains 20mm on the 15th of this month in the two Kavango regions, green schemes there will lose hundreds of tonnes of maize.
Photos: Contributed
Metzger says these concerns have also been raised by maize producers in the Grootfontein area, where a lot of maize is also still outside of silos in open dens.
“So, we are all worried,” he says.
According to Metzger, currently green schemes take a combination of around 20 truck loads of maize to silos in Windhoek.
This, he says, is despite the fact that Amta was recently given N$40 million by the government to buy food from green schemes to feed the nation.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform, Romeo Muyunda, told The Namibian yesterday that inadequate equipment and implements at government green schemes have always been a challenge due to budgetary constraints.
He says the ministry is fully aware of this problem and it is prioritising buying more equipment and implements. “It is something we should be able to resolve in the long run,” says Muyunda.
