Following a request by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) for support to develop a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategy for the agricultural sector, FAO Namibia facilitated a week long stakeholder consultation from 15-19 July 2019. Discussions with the newly formed DRR Task Force led to the recommendation to widen the scope of the sectoral strategy to Disaster Risk Management (DRM) so as to include interventions before, during and after disasters such as drought, floods, veld and bush fires, plant and animal pests and diseases.

Various directorates of MAWF namely the Directorate of Planning and Business Development, Directorate of Veterinary Services, Directorate of Agricultural Production, Extension and Engineering Services, Directorate of Water Resource Management, Directorate of Water Supply and Sanitation Coordination, Directorate of Forestry and  Directorate of Agricultural Research and Development met the Task Team and collated information on what each directorate is currently implementing and the challenges faced. The Task Force also met officials from the Meteorological Services as well as the Directorate of Disaster Risk Management under the Office of the Prime Minister. . Achievements, gaps and needs were identified in order to be incorporated into the new DRM strategy for Agriculture. During the consultations, it was also agreed that the DRM strategy would be structured along the four priorities for action as espoused in the Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030.

The consultation process also served as a platform to identify lessons learned and good practice from the Disaster Risk Reduction implementation of the agriculture sector in Namibia for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) case study project on Building Agricultural Resilience to Natural Disasters. 

 The FAO team prepared a DRM action matrix for drought on the basis of the National Drought Policy (2017) which will be finalised. The matrix showing the existing work of MAWF and how they can be arranged according to the Sendai Framework priority areas was shared with the task team. The matrix also indicates the level of DRM actions and strategies which are already addressed by the draft Drought Policy as it was agreed that the envisaged DRM strategy for the agricultural sector will only complement and not duplicate the policy. Potential gaps that can reduce the impact of hazards and disasters were noted and set to be addressed by the envisaged DRM strategy.

Additionally, discussions led to a set of value-added key strategies for consideration and inclusion in the draft drought policy. These were shared with the MAWF Executive Director during the debrief on the last day of consultations.  A draft interim DRM matrix with relevant action and recommendations as well as the guidance notes on the work plan for the sectoral DRM strategy was shared with the task force for action.  A follow up consultation meeting is scheduled for early 2020 to finalise these documents.