Completed Japanese funded project to be handed over to the Agriculture Ministry

Japanese Ambassador to Namibia, Hideyuki Sakamoto this week will officially declare, the ‘Northern Crop and Livestock Development Master Plan Study Project’ as having been successfully completed and will hand it over to Hon. Anna Shiweda, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.

The project which started in 2014 targeted the four regions in the North, namely, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto and Ohangwena and its aim was to introduce market oriented agriculture for small-scale farmers in order to uplift lives of those farmers by enhancing product activities and market access.

Five Japanese experts dispatched by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided technical assistance to their local counterparts.

During the last three years of the project implementation, various agriculture technical measures for crop production, livestock production and farm management suitable and durable for Namibia’s harsh nature conditions, have been introduced and implemented on pilot basis by small-scale farmers, Agriculture Technicians and MAWF officials.

According to Sakamoto, the results have shown effectiveness of these measures for improving agricultural productivities and farmers’ income. The project’s experiences and achievements have been compiled in a form of a Master Plan and a farmers’ training manual.

In addition, agricultural equipment and material, such as drip irrigation kits, water tanks, fencing materials, fertilizer, seeds, and office equipment worth N$1.5 million was donated to Namibia by the Japanese.

Ambassador Sakamoto will hand over the Master Plan and Training manual to Hon. Shiweda, so as to improve on the achievement made through the project and further disseminate the learned practices to benefit the small-scale farmers on the ground.