20 November 2008
Windhoek — The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry will construct cold storage facilities at Rundu in an effort to promote the production and marketing of locally produced horticultural products, by establishing collection points for agricultural produce such as vegetables and fruit.
Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry John Mutorwa revealed these plans on Tuesday.
Mutorwa said government intends to complement the irrigation development envisaged under the Green Scheme with investment in the development of infrastructure for horticulture marketing.
"This effort is aimed at reducing our over-dependency on the imported fruits and vegetables," he stressed.
"Namibia's annual demand for horticultural products is 120 000 tonnes, of which 24 000 tonnes are produced locally," he added.
Mutorwa said the programme government has planned will facilitate the collection, sorting, grading, packaging and distribution of perishable produce.
"Perishable produce that is not good for packaging will be processed," he added.
"Agriculture plays a crucial role in alleviating poverty and ensuring food security in Namibia, both at household and national level.
The agricultural sector provides livelihoods fro about 60 per cent of the total population and accounts for 5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP)," he said.
"Namibia's agriculture is, however, characterised by low levels of productivity.
Namibia imports about 70 per cent of its food requirements," he added.
Mutorwa said the African Union and its member states have committed to allocate not less than 10 per cent of their financial and other development resources to the agricultural sector in order to eradicate poverty and food insecurity.
Nampa
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