The founder and executive chairman of Youth in Agriculture has urged Namibia to reduce its dependence on food imports by increasing its own food production.

Ndatulumukwa Haikali called for the transformation of the agriculture industry and for more youth to take an interest in food production.

Namibia imports most of what its people consume.

Haikali stresses that the perception that only elders and school dropouts are fit for agricultural production is wrong and defeats Namibia's dreams of food self-reliance.

He believes that the images of agriculture that are portrayed are uninspiring and discourage young people from participating in and pursuing careers in agriculture.

"What do you find if you look at the cover page of many books or pamphlets promoting agriculture?" Haikali questioned, explaining that "you mostly see an elderly lady who appears poor or illiterate, so when a young person looks at that book that promotes agriculture, their perception will change, so if I enter agriculture, this is now what I will become: being associated with poverty, being illiterate, and maybe there are no economic returns, but if we change this narrative and start promoting agriculture as it is, then we will be able to attract many people into agriculture."

Hakaili added that the agriculture sector should be promoted as a commercial enterprise and not just for producing food for personal consumption.

He further said that all people should understand the importance of agriculture and that it should be introduced as a compulsory subject in schools for more children to develop an interest in agriculture.

"If you are a mechanical engineer, you can develop machines. If you are an electrical engineer, you can be the one who connects power to the farm. Whether you studied microbiology in order to identify the microorganisms or chemicals found in the food we produce. Whether you handled logistics to get the food from the farmer to the buyer."

Haikali says young agriculturalists should speak to the right people to help them address whatever challenges they encounter so that they can be assisted either with capital or equipment to grow their agro-businesses.