Kuvee Kangueehi
25 July 2008
Windhoek — The Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) on Wednesday received N$500000 from the Communal Farmers Consortium for the hosting of agricultural shows in various regions.
The patron of the Communal Farmers Consortium, Ambassador Leonard Iipumbu, handed over the cheque to the NNFU president, Pentile Dawids at the Windhoek Show Grounds.
During the handover, Iipumbu said the consortium of companies teamed up with the NNFU in funding different farmers information days and agricultural shows to develop their farming activities in order to improve productivity and add value to their products.
"The development of this sector is a key to, among others, job and wealth creation, improving livelihood and contributing to rural economic development."
He noted that the consortium believes that the contribution is the best way of directly investing in ongoing agricultural activities in communal areas aimed at increasing and intensifying the use of existing agricultural land for the economic benefit of Namibians.
Iipumbu said the consortium recognises the importance of agriculture to the Namibian economy and Government efforts in integrated rural development to close the gap between the commercial and communal sector for increased food security.
"The establishment of the consortium should serve as a wake up call for the farmers unions, namely NNFU and Namibia Agriculture Union (NAU), to begin the process of uniting farmers to create one umbrella body representing their interests."
The consortium was established in 2004 when eight companies joined forces to assist communal farmers in their dire need of financial support for development.
At the same occasion the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, John Mutorwa, said NNFU should continue with its important responsibility of support and upliftment of communal farmers in the country.
Members of the Consortium are Meat Board, Meatco, Agribank, Sanlam Namibia, First National Bank, Namibia Breweries, Feedmaster, Telecom, Agra and NNFU.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 New Era. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
