23 Apr 2019

Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security has been urged to engage Tawana Land Board and consider allocating idle boreholes to farmers to reduce the effects of drought in Ngamiland.

Assistant Minister of Basic Education, Mr Thato Kwerepe revealed that there were a lot of unused government boreholes across the Ngamiland District which farmers could use.

He made the remarks at the Ovambanderu Festival after Kgosi Manuel Nguvauva of Sehithwa decried the loss of livestock due to severe drought and appealed to government to intervene.

He appealed to the Assistant Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Konstantinos Markus to consider assisting farmers to reduce the impact of drought.

Should nothing be done, the Ngamiland community, who traditionally depend on livestock rearing, would be impoverished and become a burden to the government.

Mr Kwerepe concurred with Kgosi Nguvauva noting that the best solution was to allocate the boreholes so that farmers could relocate their livestock during difficult times such as drought.

He expressed appreciation for  efforts made by the ministry to subsidise livestock feeds and medicines and the decision to bail out farmers in Gumare and surrounding areas whose livestock was decimated by the amblyomma tick.

For his part, Mr Markus admitted that the drought situation needed attention but stated that government had extended the period of livestock feeds and medicine subsidy up to end of June.

He said Ngamiland was prone to misfortunes such as livestock diseases and the amblyomma tick but stated that government would never turn a blind eye to the challenges.

Following farmers’ concerns about the amblyomma tick,  government assisted with regular dipping of animals and vaccines to reduce the impact, he said.
Mr Markus urged farmers to sell some of their livestock during drought periods to save money to restock later when the situation stabilised. ENDS