Outdated equipment, facilities, and tractors that have been broken for about six years now are said to be hampering operations at the Etunda Green Scheme Irrigation Project in the Omusati Region.
Etunda has 450 hectares of commercial farming units. Currently, they have planted 24 hectares of lucerne, which is now the project's main source of income.
This has seen farmers queuing up as early as four o'clock in the morning in search of lucerne for their livestock.
There are also four hectares of vegetables under irrigation.
The commercial units have little plantation following the de-registration of Agribusdev.
"A bit of the challenge is the morale of the farmers that went down since this issue of Agribusdev, and we are also experiencing vandalism from community members. This farm stretches for 22 kilometers, and there is no production in those units, so people are vandalising. They are mostly cutting the fence, so they are pushing in their animals and they are vandalising the irrigation system," said Sackey Shilyomunhu, acting Manager at the Etunda Irrigation Project.
Shilyomunhu further informed Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila during her visit to the project of his concern regarding the procurement system, where decisions are still made in Windhoek, even in times of emergencies, which he says causes delays.
Of the 24 tractors on the project, only three are working.
He says the tractors were imported and their spare parts are not available locally.
The maize milling machine is also old and can only manage to operate for nine hours a day.
Another challenge is the nonavailability of maize grain to mill maize meal that is sold locally and in demand.
"The wheat mill is functioning, but since last year we stopped milling wheat because the brands of our competitors are good in the market. We do not have an aggressive marketing department to overpower them. What we do with wheat is just produce wheat and sell it to millers like Bokomo and Namib-Mills."
Small-scale farmers also raised other matters with the Prime Minister, such as dilapidated houses that were built in 1991.
Low water pressure caused by old pipes and pumps at the project has led to the wilting of crops, whilst a lack of market for their produce is also problematic.
"I think there is a lot of information that needs to be followed up. The directives of our president are really for us to optimize our production capacity, improve our self-reliance, and wean ourselves off foreign supplies. It is important for us to optimize local production. Although we have agreed to implement a reform of our green scheme projects, it does not mean that we should stop everything now before we are ready to start with the reform," Kuugongelwa-Amadhila informed the farmers.