Plant health vital for food security
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) signed a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) on a phytosanitary and plant health project that will see the establishment of 10 plant health clinics in Namibia.
The project known as “Technical support for phytosanitary capacity evaluation and establishment of plant health clinics to improve agricultural production and productivity” will seek to improve Namibia’s agricultural production and productivity by improving the provision and safe trade of plants and plant products and the performance of phytosanitary systems in the country.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, MAWLR Executive Director Ndiyakupi Nghituwamhata noted that the project came at the right time as Namibia has been experiencing an emergence of new plant pests and diseases due to factors such as climate change and increased trade.
“Climate change and increased trade in the flow of fruits, vegetables, cereals and propagating materials across our borders has increased Namibia’s susceptibility to plant pests which is a threat to crop production,” she said.
Nghituwamhata further stressed that plant health is a key factor in any strategy to achieve food security, protect the environment and biodiversity, and to facilitate trade, noting that the agriculture sector needs to work towards strengthening its efforts to integrate its crop protection and management programme.
The FAO Representative in Namibia (ad interim), Lewis Hove, noted the importance of plants to human survival as 80% of all food consumed globally comes from plants.
“Plants provide the core basis of life on Earth… without plants human survival would almost be impossible as we largely depend on them for our food and for the oxygen that we breathe.”
Hove also noted that a lot of time, energy and resources go into the production of crops and other plants alike and that such investment must be safeguarded to ensure that no losses are incurred and livelihoods are not negatively impacted.
“Farmers work hard in fields to provide us with food to eat, it is therefore important that we ensure that their hard work and resources do not go to waste due to plant pests and diseases,” he stressed.
The FAO funded project aims to assist Namibia’s government, in particular MAWLR’s Plant Health Unit, to achieve improved performance of photosanitary systems in the country by: (a) strengthening the capacity of Plant Health and other relevant staff in photosanitary measures and (b) Establishing ten (10) Plant Health Clinics in five crop growing (5) regions in Namibia namely: Omusati, Ohangwena, Kavango West, Hardap and Zambezi.
The capacity strengthening of MAWLR plant health staff and setting up of plant health clinics in the above-mentioned crop growing regions is to primarily ensure that government has the necessary facilities and expertise to diagnose plant ailments and provide remedial measures to reduce crop losses and improve food security.
Activities under the project will be funded to the amount of USD 232 000 (approximately NAD 4 million*) and will be implemented over the course of two (2) years.
*Correct as at 03/02/2022