Foods produced without synthetic fertilizer or pesticides are not only more nutritious, but they also benefit the environment and are safer for human health.

This is according to a representative of the Namibia Organic Association, Vera Comy, who spoke on the sidelines of the just-concluded four-day workshop organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform at Keetmanshoop.

The workshop focused on the revision of legislation regulating plant quarantine and the management of fertilizers, pesticides, animal feed, and agricultural remedies.

Comy is a representative of the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) and is also a member of the Namibia Organic Association. 

For her, the new bill will ensure objective regulation of pesticides and fertilizers to protect human health and the environment from risks related to the use of unregulated chemicals.

"We hope that through stricter guidelines around pesticide use, fertilizer use, farm feeds, and the imports of these products, there will be greater protection for those farmers who are doing organic agriculture because farmers who are trying to produce organic farming are affected by their neighbor who is using pesticides and chemical fertilizers."

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations found that Namibia lacks specific chemical legislation to regulate the management of chemicals and pesticides.

Hileni Ashipala, a Legislative Drafter in the Ministry of Justice, says input from the workshop will be considered in the draft Bill.

"There are lots of gaps in that law that don't speak to the situation on the ground now; they don't speak to what is our situation with GMOs, plant health fertilizers, pesticides, and the regulation of this industry, which is very important to each and every human being."

Once it becomes law, the Bill will ensure the effectiveness of pesticide products for their proposed uses while safeguarding a fair market for manufacturers of pesticide products.