The Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, Carl Schlettwein, says MeatCo still remains a crucial entity in the meat market and that it has no immediate replacement.
Schlettwein noted that although the government cannot keep up with bailing out MeatCo all the time, there are currently no plans to replace the entity, and it remains the heartbeat of the livestock sector.
The Ministry of Agriculture is set to strengthen its agricultural sector and promote food self-sufficiency through the introduction of the Livestock and Livestock Products Amendment Bill.
The proposed amendments to the Meat Industry Act of 1981 aim to expand its scope to include the dairy and poultry industries, which have been facing challenges due to imported goods flooding the market.
Community members in Otjimbingwe and the surrounding areas have emphasised the importance of involving community development organisations in the allocation and registration of communal land rights for groups.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform is consulting with stakeholders in the Erongo Region and other areas regarding the formulation of regulations for the allocation of communal land rights to groups.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform (MAWLR), in collaboration with the Centre for Coordination of Agriculture Research and Development (CCARDESA), embarked on a three-day training workshop on the Malabo Declaration Commitments on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods and Knowledge Management.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform has intervened in a water crisis at Omatjete that has been ongoing for years.
The Ministry will be sourcing water from a village near Omatjete to mitigate the ongoing shortage of water in the village.
Situated more than 200 km from Otjiwarongo, Omatjete Village has faced challenges in terms of water availability since even before independence.
About 15 years ago, the regional council installed boreholes and linked them to the reservoir to provide water to the community.
The All People's Party (APP) Secretary General, Vincent Kanyetu, has accused the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform of abandoning the Mashare Agriculture Development Institute (MADI).
Kanyetu says the institute was a hub of research and innovation in its heyday and lived up to its mandate of developing agriculture in the Kavango regions.
The APP leader visited the institute to familiarise himself with the situation after allegedly receiving information that research activities were at a halt.
The Directorate of Veterinary Services under the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform resumed the import and in-transit movement of live poultry, birds, and poultry products from Ireland.
Chief Veterinary Officer of the Directorate of Veterinary Services, Albertina Shilongo in a statement said the import of poultry from Ireland resumed, following the ban on the import and in-transit movement of poultry from that country in November last year.
The import ban was a result of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak reported in Ireland.
Emerging poultry farmers in the Oshana Region are advised to exercise patience and network with each other to generate meaningful income from their projects.
To address some of the challenges local farmers face, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform office at Ongwediva, held a one-day engagement with poultry farmers to explore ways and share information on how they can best benefit from the poultry value chain.
The farmers need to stand together and collaborate if they are to draw significant benefits from poultry farming.
The Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein, says that the completion of the second phase of the Neckartal Dam Irrigation Scheme on the outskirts of Keetmanshoop in the ||Kharas Region has the capacity to provide more than 10,000 employment opportunities.
Schlettwein was answering questions during a consultative meeting with stakeholders in the agricultural sector at Keetmanshoop.
Steve Swartbooi, a farmer in the area, was among the stakeholders who had questions and suggestions to put forward to the minister.
In an effort to improve sanitation in rural communities, the Directorate of Water Supply and Sanitation Coordination in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform recently handed over a newly constructed communal ablution facility at Mungunda Village in Kavango East.
The facility is part of the community-led total sanitation program, which was introduced in 2008.
