18 November 2008
The different agricultural unions in Namibia might form one unified body in due course after a planning meeting of the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) last week.
"The NAU Executive Council reflected about one umbrella organisation for organised agriculture in Namibia," the weekly NAU newsletter stated.
"The first level of such an umbrella body is to integrate all producers into a structure, which specifically looks after the interests of producers. The Joint Presidency Committee (JPC) is the base of such an organisation."
The JPC consists of the presidents of NAU, the Namibia National Farmers' Union (NNFU) and Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers' Forum (NECFF).
A unified body would require a clear mandate, secretariat and funding.
Namibia has two production systems, namely the communal and commercial agricultural systems, and the needs of these two systems justify two agricultural unions.
Emerging farmers are currently represented by the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers' Forum (NECFF), which is seen as an integral part of the commercial production system and thus did not justify a separate agricultural union, the NAU executive noted.
"It should rather be looked at how they can be integrated into the existing structure which represents the commercial sector," the NAU suggested.
The next level is a structure into which the whole agricultural family is integrated.
An initiative of an Agricultural Consultative Forum is already ongoing which, at the invitation of the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, liaises twice a year with the Minister about policy aspects.
The executive council of the NAU held its annual strategic planning session at Okahandja last week to discuss a unified representative body for agriculture and to scrutinise six strategic objectives.
These are clarity about land ownership and land use, optimal and sustainable use of agricultural potential, effective and efficient communication to members and stakeholders, unity and harmony among agricultural producers, improved human capacity and lastly, an effective and efficient NAU management.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Namibian. 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.
