Distributing food to drought-hit households

Photo credit: New Era

Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Nangula Mbako

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Andrew Nehemiah

Namibia: 417 944 Receive Drought Food

The Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Nangula Mbako, last Friday announced that the government is busy distributing food to drought-hit households.

She said the distribution of drought relief food is taking place through the Disaster Risk Management Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister.

Mbako said these mitigation measures are being carried out to alleviate drought in the country after Cabinet authorised the implementation of an interim drought relief programme.

She said the measures are being implemented while the government awaits the outcome of the post-harvest crop and vulnerability assessment report planned for May to June this year.

“The assessment will determine the impact of drought on food production, livelihood and the number of people affected. The Office of the Prime Minister is currently distributing food aid donated by the Federal Republic of Nigeria consisting of 300 metric tons of rice divided into 25 kg bags, 700 metric tons of maize grain and three metric tons of fish powder,” she said.

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Andrew Nehemiah, in his response to the situation on the ground told reporters the drought in Namibia is described as serious and has affected grazing in large parts of the country.

“The country’s northern regions have been hit by a severe shortage in crop production. The whole country looks bad. We had poor germination, wilted crops in the maize triangle and the situation looks terrible,” he said.

Read the full article: allAfrica