WINDHOEK, July 7 — Namibia aims to ensure enhanced food security by increasing food production by 20 percent, a government official said Thursday.
To achieve this, the country requires well-established seed systems to make quality seeds available to the farming communities, deputy executive director Mildred Kambinda at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform said at a handover of agricultural facilities and equipment from the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency.
The utilization of combined strategies including quality seeds integrated with practices such as water and nutrient use-efficiency technologies important to reduce the effect of climate change like drought, flood, extreme temperature, pests and diseases which can result in low crop yield, the official said.
The agency has donated a cold room that will help improve seed storage and support the multiplication of newly developed cowpea mutant seed varieties.
According to the agency’s Country Coordinator, Aydin Apaydin, with 40 percent of seed production at Mannheim Crop Research Station in the north of the country going to waste each year, the cold room will preserve and store seeds, increasing seeds availability to breeders for the multiplication of certified seeds that can be distributed among Namibia’s targeted cropping regions.
Namibia is currently also working on an initiative called the Namibia Agricultural Mechanization and Seed System Improvement Project co-funded by the African Development Bank which seeks to improve household food security and reduce poverty through enhancing agricultural productivity. (Xinhua)
Namibia eyes increased food production through improved seed varieties
