INTERNATIONAL - The livelihood of people especially in the rural areas of Namibia has severely been affected by the ongoing drought, including access to safe and nutritious food, a latest report have shown.
Over 289,644 people are food insecure and need immediate food assistance. This number is expected to rise during the course of the 2019/2020 consumption period, according to the Namibian Vulnerability Assessment Committee report released Wednesday.
According to the report, farmers in the communal areas are unable to sell some of their livestock due to lack of formal market, poor livestock conditions for sale and very low livestock prices.
"Many of the animals are so thin that they later die, because they have nothing to eat. We then try to sell them, but are not making much money. It is losses for us. People here in Namibia are not willing to pay for meat as much as they did about two years ago," Maria Visser, a farmer said.
Visser is however pleased about the fact that the Namibian government has embarked on comprehensive drought interventions to be implemented countrywide until March 2020.
"These interventions include food relief to the drought affected communities, especially the vulnerable groups. Other interventions include livestock marketing incentive scheme, lease of grazing, transport subsidy to and from the grazing areas, water tanker services, rehabilitation and installation of boreholes, subsidy on lick supplements for core herd, fodder subsidy and provision of certified seeds," Visser said.