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This year, most parts of Namibia received adequate rainfall only in January, followed by drought in the following months, which led to a decline in agricultural production.
Prime Minister Sarah Kugongelwa-Amadira submitted a motion to the National Assembly to extend the drought emergency for another six months.
Namibia declared a state of emergency in May due to severe drought.
A previous crop assessment report confirmed that severe drought had affected food security and led to a deterioration in grazing conditions and water supply in various regions.
“As a country, we experienced below average rainfall in the 2023-2024 rainy season. This had a devastating impact on the population who rely primarily on rain-fed agriculture,” said Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.
The prime minister said the drought caused by El Nino was also affecting other southern African countries, prompting Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia to declare their own national states of disaster.
According to the climate monitoring of the Namibian Meteorological Bureau, Namibia’s rainfall this year is lower than normal, and the arrival of the rainy season is significantly delayed. Most parts of Namibia only received sufficient rainfall in January this year, and drought occurred in the following months, especially in February, resulting in poor agricultural production and pasture construction.
Livelihoods at risk
Kugongelwa-Amadira added that the Ministry of Agriculture’s Crop Prospects, Food Security and Drought Situation report released in March forecast a significant drop in the expected harvest, with all communal area cropping areas expected to produce less than the previous season.
The report estimates that national cereal production of white maize, sorghum, pearl millet and wheat will be 72,150 tons in 2024, a 53% drop from 153,012 tons in the previous season.
In many collective crop-growing areas, many households have already exhausted their reserves from the previous season and are now heavily dependent on markets and drought relief assistance for food.
Kugongelwa-Amadira stressed that it has been shown that the livelihoods of most Namibians, especially those who depend on agricultural activities, are threatened by the prevailing drought conditions.
“In addition, existing resources are used for targeted interventions for those worst affected. The scale of the drought is national,” she said.
Relieve pain
She added that the Cabinet considered the current situation and approved drought intervention measures to provide assistance to the affected people with the aim of safeguarding and mitigating the impact on the livelihoods of affected communities and farmers.
She further said that these interventions include the continuation of food assistance from July 1 to June 30, 2025 by the Prime Minister’s Office to eligible beneficiaries.
Subsidy on purchase of animal feed will continue till March 31, 2025, while sale of subsidized feed to farmers through the Agricultural Development Centre will start this month and last till December 31.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila further said her office would continue water supply programmes in drought-affected areas in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources.
To implement these interventions, the government has allocated N$825 million from the National Emergency Disaster Fund.
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