Frans Indongo joins fight against drought

Since most areas of the country received below-normal rainfall coupled with high temperatures virtually throughout the 2015/16 rainy season, Hon. Prime Minister, Saara-Kuugongelwa-Amadhila handed over a drought relief donation made by the Frans Indongo this week to aid with the plight being experienced.
Speaking at the occasion the Prime Minister thanked the Frans Indonga group of companies for their donation. “I want to specifically recognize the assistance offered to us by one of the Indongo group’s affiliated companies, Bokomo Namibia, which has availed the service of a forklift to the Department of the Disaster Risks Management this year.” Hon. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila added.
The continued low rainfall resulted in dry conditions in the northern and central regions which resulted in low or poor yields by the farmers. “The Meteorological Service has indicated that there is a high likelihood for below normal rainfall throughout the country for the rainy season,” added. the prime minister.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila added that rain-dependent small holder farmers – comprising at least of 50% of the population in Southern Africa, are the hardest hit by the ElNino’s impact. In consequence Poor regional cereal harvests over the past few years, have tightened cereal supplies. In total, the cereal deficit for the SADC region is 7.9 million tonnes for the 2015/16 marketing year.
In efforts to manage the situation the government has introduced a few measure for drought relief. Kuungongelwa-Amadhila said, “Cabinet, subsequent, to a vulnerability and crop assessment, authorised the implementation of the drought relief programme, which includes the distribution of maize meal and different types of relish to close to 600,000 people.”
The other programmes include the provision of water for human and animal consumption by drilling and equipping new boreholes while rehabilitating old ones as well as livestock marketing subsidies.
Thus far, an amount of N$360 million was spent during the first phase, which started from April to July 2015, while more than N$550 million is expected to be spent during the second phase covering August 2015 to March 2016.
The prime minister also added that combating the impact of drought requires strong partnerships and joint efforts by the Government and private sector and urged all to support the initiatives of the government aimed at fighting hunger in the country and meet government half way in these noble efforts.