WORK TOGETHER: Kavango East Governor, Bonifatius Wakudumo. PHOTO: Kenya Kambowe
WORK TOGETHER: Kavango East Governor, Bonifatius Wakudumo. PHOTO: Kenya Kambowe

Wakudumo calls for concerted effort to eradicate poverty

Enough resources to tackle food insecurity
This year's World Food Day was commemorated under the theme 'Water is life, Water is food. Leave no one behind'.
Kenya Kambowe
Kavango West Governor Bonifatius Wakudumo says a collective approach is needed to eradicate poverty in communities.

Wakudumo made the remarks during the commemoration of World Food Day held at Kayova village last Thursday.

“Fellow Namibians, no organisation, government or institution can eradicate hunger and poverty alone... it requires a collective effort, consultative and collective leadership,” Wakudumo said.

Working together

This year’s World Food Day was commemorated under the theme ‘Water is life, Water is food. Leave no one behind’.

Kavango East Region is among the poorest regions in the country, and recently it was reported that over 15 000 households in the region are facing hunger.

Wakudumo, however, maintained that with the abundance of natural resources of water and land in the region, Kavango East can turn around its poverty situation if the agriculture sector gets much-needed support.

“I believe that we can still produce more and better if we could come up with deliberate agricultural support programmes for our communities. For example, providing relevant training and supporting our subsistence farmers with implements, seeds, and fertilisers,” Wakudumo said.

“Today, we all need to embrace solutions that consider the complexity of the changing world in which we live. It's important to note the interrelationships between foods, water, health, poverty, the environment, and climate conditions.”

Water is life

In a speech read on his behalf, agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein said Namibia should produce more food and preserve water at the same time.

“As we celebrate World Food Day this year, we are reminded that we need to produce more food and other essential agricultural commodities with less water while ensuring that water is distributed equally, our aquatic food systems are preserved, and nobody is left behind,” Schlettwein said.

Schlettwein also emphasised the importance of safeguarding natural resources and the consequences if they get depleted.

“Water in itself has enormous and understated values for households, food production, cultural activities, and the provision of health, education, economic activities and the maintenance of the natural environment.”

“We further need to fully understand the increasing pressure on our freshwater resources to be able to safeguard this critical resource for the benefit of everyone," the minister noted.

“If we mismatch water demand with the available water resources, we run the risk of depleting our resources faster than expected, risking missing many SDG targets such as alleviating poverty, access to public health, access to education, protection of the environment and ensuring water and sanitation for all.”

- [email protected]

Kommentaar

Republikein 2025-04-11

Geen kommentaar is op hierdie artikel gelaat nie

Meld asseblief aan om kommentaar te lewer