The Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, Carl Schlettwein, said the water reuse method is an approach that can be taken in Kunene to address the water shortage in the region.

Schlettwein said this at the joint commemoration of World Wetlands Day and World Water Day in Opuwo.

Wetlands are ecosystems that contain water permanently or seasonally.

World Wetlands Day 2024 calls for attention to the interconnectedness between wetlands and various aspects of human existence.

The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) MP Kennedy Shekupakela questioned the Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform regarding the challenges faced by farmers beyond the Red Line. 

He highlighted the struggles encountered in establishing essential structures, implementing effective fencing, and securing access to water resources.

Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader McHenry Venaani pointed out the severity of the issue, saying crop farmers in regions face uncertainty due to a lack of rainfall.

The Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform says only about half the population has access to proper toilet facilities.

Speaking during the President's media briefing earlier in the week, minister Carl Schlettwein said sanitation is a prerequisite for development.

Namibia is lagging behind in UN Social Development Goal 6 on sanitation.

Carl Schlettwein says no one will invest in an area where no sanitation is available.

The Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, Carl Schlettwein, says Namibia continues to make strides in the provision of clean drinking water, both in urban and rural areas.

These efforts are, however, impeded by damage to infrastructure.

Schlettwein was speaking at the launch of the first-ever regional water symposium in Namibia in the north-central regions at Ongwediva.

The water symposium brought together industry experts to deliberate on the best ways to supply and preserve water.

"As heads of state and governments, we must aim to close the water investment gap in Africa for the achievement of not only the water-related SDG targets on the continent, important as they are, but to enable the African continent to achieve her overall developmental goals."

This was the clarion call by President Hage Geingob during the launch of the International High-Level Panel Campaign, titled Mind the Gap: Invest in Water Raising Ambition, in a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, Carl Schlettwein.

The Minister of Agriculture, Carl Schlettwein, says the subsidised commodities in the US markets would make it difficult for Namibian products to enter the space.

As a result, he says, the two countries could discuss the possibility of preferential treatment for some products.

Schlettwein said this during a meeting with a delegation of representatives from different US agencies at the US-Africa Business Summit in Tlokweng, Botswana.

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 Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, Carl Schlettwein, is displeased by the trend of postponement of motion debates in the National Assembly.

This worrying trend, he explains, results in either neglect of or indefinite delays in deliberation on issues of national concern.

"I am getting worried; we are postponing everything to Monday and Tuesday, and we have agreed at the Chief Whip that we will deal with all the matters. And we will only stop when we have finished. There are too many things."

Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, Carl Schlettwein, has highlighted that the division between the commercial, disease-free livestock sector south of the red line and the communal farming sector in the northern part of the country, where diseases still prevail, is a lingering consequence of the colonial divide and rule strategy.

Schlettwein made this remark during the announcement of the new Meat Board, expressing the importance of recognising and rectifying the historical inequalities and divisions that persist in the livestock sector.
 

The outgoing chairperson of the Namwater Board of Directors announced that they are leaving the company with a positive balance, having improved it by N$215 million compared to when they assumed their position.

Thaddius Maswahu made this statement during the appointment of a new board for Namwater by the Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Forestry, Carl Schlettwein.

The outgoing board was appointed in 2017, and their three-year term was extended with an additional term.