A recent report on the drought situation reveals that approximately 1.4 million people, accounting for 48 percent of the total population, are expected to face food insecurity.
Out of this number, only around 341,000 households are currently receiving food assistance through the nationwide drought relief programme.
Out of the 341,855 households benefiting from the food assistance under the drought programme, 3,105 are marginalised households, and 1,835 are malnourished households.
Benefieciries receives a food basket consisting of a 20-kg bag of maize meal, four 400-gramme tinned fish plus soya mince, and a 750-ml bottle of cooking oil.
The Director of Disaster Risk Management, Helen Likando, says, "On issues of dependency creation, many people are complaining that the drought relief that the government is giving in the short term is not enough to carry people up to the end of the month. The meaning is in the word itself; it's a relief. The government is not providing a full food basket sufficient for you to eat from day one of the month until the end of the month; it's just complimenting what you have so that people don't die from hunger. You can't sit back and say, "The government will give me food."
The drought relief programme is estimated to cost the government about N$1.3 billion; however, the government only has around N$829 million, leaving a funding gap of N$482 million.
"There are a number of efforts and initiatives that the government is implementing to ensure that people are able to produce for themselves; unfortunately, plans are there, and it has been said that the government is being slow in implementing these strategies, so sometimes it's because of competing priorities, but this is where we are calling on the private sector to come in and provide a supporting hand to the government."
The government also has a livestock support programme, which includes supporting livestock marketing incentives, a lease of grazing, transport to and from grazing areas, and subsidies on fodder and licks.
To date, the majority of subsidy claims received are for the transportation of livestock to and from grazing areas and the lease of grazing, mainly from the Omaheke and Erongo regions.
Participating livestock farmers are mostly about marketing incentives through destocking, especially in the hardest-hit areas.
When it comes to water provision, a total of N$100 million has been allocated from the 2023/24 Drought Relief Programme budget to cater for all water needs across the country, especially in areas that are in dire need for both human and livestock consumption.