Namibia: Country to Build Own Food Reserves First

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New Era (Windhoek)

10 October 2008
Posted to the web 10 October 2008

Wezi Tjaronda
Windhoek

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Andrew Ndishishi, says the initiative to have a SADC Regional Food Reserve Facility coincides with Namibia's efforts to establish her own strategic food facility.

"It is our view that the emergency component of the framework should be dealt with separately," he said in a speech read on his behalf at a consultative workshop on the establishment of the regional food reserve facility for SADC on Tuesday.

Ndishishi said Namibia viewed this as a step in the right direction for member states without strategic reserves to emulate the country's efforts.

He said although the ministry welcomed the establishment of the facility, the proposal was that the management costs, procurement systems, logistics and transport should be considered.

Namibia has started constructing its own strategic reserves in the Caprivi, Kavango, Ohangwena an Omusati regions to store grain procured from producers. Two silos with a 4500-tonne capacity each have been built in the two north-eastern regions, while those of Ohangwena and Oshikoto are nearing completion.

Once all the silos are complete, the Government will buy 60000 tonnes of grain each year for its strategic storage, which is sufficient for four months at any time in a year. The grain reserves will be available for the Government's emergency food distribution and the milling industry, in case of food crisis.

Another storage system is for commercial millers to have 30000 tonnes for milling and distribution to wholesalers and retailers. The Government and commercial millers will buy excess produce from farmers, who normally grow for domestic consumption.

The meeting took a decision, which will be communicated to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry for endorsement and then communicated to SADC, according to the Undersecretary for Agriculture, Desmond Shikesho.

Shikesho said while participants felt the idea to have strategic food reserves at regional level was good Namibia wants to have enough for four months in the country at any given time.

"Namibia will continue with its programme of constructing strategic food reserves to have enough for Namibia," Shikesho said.

SADC member countries at the extraordinary Summit on Agriculture and Food Security in May instructed the secretariat to consider establishing a regional food reserve facility after realising that disaster preparedness and food security could be greatly enhanced through collective food stockholding programmes.

The initial reserve was pegged at 500000 tonnes of white maize, wheat, rice, sorghum and millet built up over three years, which would cost US$89 million for physical stocks and financial reserves.

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