INTERNATIONAL – Namibia's employment opportunities from the agriculture sector has shrunk from 34 percent in 2012 to 23 percent to date, Agribank of Namibia said on Wednesday.
Chief Executive Officer of Agribank Sakaria Nghikembua said despite heavy investments in the Namibian agriculture sector the contribution of the sector to total gross domestic product has also gone down while reducing the number of people employable in agriculture.
He said Namibia needs to adopt smart agriculture as a way of boosting performance in the sector as well as create more employment opportunities.
"Indications are that although agriculture remains the highest employer in the country its contribution to employment creation and contribution to the total economy has gone down," said Nghikembua.
Nghikembua added that Namibia also need to find latest trends of creating agriculture related industries in manufacturing and food processing.
He said Namibia stands to benefit immensely from an improved agriculture performance.