Agricultural sector improving despite challenges brought by COVID – Schlettwein
The Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform Calle Schlettwein on Monday said the country’s agricultural sector is improving and doing well despite the challenges brought about by the outbreak of COVID-19.
“We are doing well, the agricultural sector is growing. We have market access to the best-buying markets in the world and we can pick and choose which commodities to export. We have the best breeds while we are the only country in Africa to export beef to the European Union, United States of America, China and the rest of Africa,” Schlettwein said at a staff meeting in Windhoek.
According to Schlettwein, the agricultural sector will focus on unlocking the potential of green schemes as well as bringing up small scale farmers in order to improve their livelihoods while intensifying crop production.
In the third quarter of 2021, the import bill for agricultural commodities stood at N$228 million while export earnings stood at N$565 million, showing that the country was a net exporter of agricultural commodities for that period, according to data from Namibia Statistics Agency. (Xinhua).
