Two years ago, The People’s Republic of China through the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) seconded a 15-man team of agronomic experts to render technical support in various agricultural fields in Namibia to complement agricultural production efforts in the country.

During the media briefing, which was held in the capital last week, the Minister for Agriculture, Water and Forestry Hon. John Mutorwa said the Chinese experts did an excellent job and that he was satisfied with their work.  The Minister said the experts and their counterparts have been implementing a project with well-defined objectives and outcomes covering rice, foxtail millet and horticulture production as well as veterinary diagnostics and laboratory operating standards. “Some of the projects’ achievements are 15 rice varieties that were successfully introduced and are currently on trial to enable the Ministry to select three varieties best suited for Namibia, Hon. Mutorwa added.

The experts were deployed to various duty stations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) such as Kalimbeza, Rundu, Mashare, Etunda, Windhoek Central Veterinary Laboratory and Omahenene Research Station.

The Chinese Deputy Ambassador to Namibia H.E. Li Nan who also attended the media briefing said the introduced technologies and farming skills were aimed at helping Namibian to apply the scientific crop farming methods, land cultivation and standardized practices in animal disease resistance and detection.

“They had introduced more than 30 varieties of rice, foxtail millet, maize and vegetables to the country. He said they had also brought in and demonstrated the use of 30 types of farm machines, instruments and equipment, and organised various workshops for 455 trainees.”, he added

In the statement given by the FAO Representative, Dr. Babagana Ahmadu who also expressed his satisfaction said that “various demonstrations on pest management, correct fertilizer application methods and compost-making were conducted to farmers and government officials during the first phase of the period. I am also informed that Chinese standard operating procedures for the analysis of mectins, benzimidazoles and steroids were acquired by the central veterinary laboratory, and the validation of these methods will be done in the near future.”

All three parties under the Tripartite Agreement were satisfied with the results of the first phase of the SSC Project and acknowledged that discussions are underway for Phase II and its implementation in the near future.