Nandi-Ndaitwah urges traditional leaders to protect infrastructure in Omusati

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has called on traditional authority leaders in the Omusati region to protect government infrastructure from vandalism, especially those at the Etunda irrigation scheme.

Nandi-Ndaitwah during a briefing with farmers at Etunda on Monday said government infrastructure should be guarded.

The briefing provided an update on the various farming units at the scheme, which includes the small-scale farmers’ unit and medium-scale farmers’ unit.

Her remarks came after the scheme’s manager, Sackey Shilyomunhu, highlighted the issue of infrastructure vandalism by community members.

“The infrastructures is meant to benefit us and vandalising it will delay service and people might lose employment in the process,” she said.

She stressed that agriculture is the backbone of any society and people should always ensure that they guard all infrastructure for the benefit of future generations.

The Etunda irrigation scheme has announced that 31 plots are ready for leasing, with 28 plots having already been advertised in April.
The remaining three plots are currently vacant, according to Shilyomunhu.

“Within the small-scale farmers unit, we have 97 plots of three hectares each for a total of 291 hectares, and 67 farmers are currently active,” he said.

He added that farmers lease these plots directly from the government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform.

Shilyomunhu indicated that 16 farmers within this unit each own two plots. For the past three seasons, these farmers have been subsidised by the ministry with inputs.

He stated that the medium-scale farmers’ unit, consisting of 12 plots of 12 hectares each, is managed by private businesspeople, many of whom operate under company names.

He noted that three of these businesses are active, while nine plots are still to be advertised.

“The availability of new plots is part of the ongoing efforts to expand and optimise the agricultural output at the Etunda agricultural project,” he said.

Shilyomunhu noted that they face difficulties including high utility costs of about N$700 000 per month, and this threatens the productivity and sustainability of the project.

“High input costs result in our products being uncompetitive in the market,” he said.

They also deal with inadequate machinery, which impacts planting and harvesting, delaying the following planting cycle. Further, the commercial unit is preoccupied with serving the farmers first, thus delaying its planting programme.

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