Young people from all over the Omaheke region on Saturday hosted a farmers' day at Otjinene to share and improve the knowledge of communal farmers on laws and regulations that affect farming directly and indirectly, and unlock the potential of crop farming in the region, among others.
Kakunandunda Katuuo, a crop farmer from Aminuis and one of the organisers of the event, emphasised the importance of crop farming and urged fellow women to take crop farming seriously and improve households' food sufficiency.
'I believe it is important to transfer knowledge and to educate people especially those in communal areas that there is also agriculture farming than just livestock farming, especially crop production because in Namibia we import more food from other countries and if we venture into this other agricultural domain we will be able to sustain ourselves and the country.
Crop farming is where we are going and I want to urge my fellow women to take up space in agriculture, yes, it is a sector dominated by men but as women, it is our responsibility to ensure that we have enough for our families and through food production we can be the feeders of our people', Katuuo said.
Packy Pakarae the regional councilor of the Epukiro constituency who attended the event expressed that he was thrilled by young people who thought of sharing very important information with communal farmers. It has been a dream of many leaders for young people to come on board and share what they know, be it from experiences or expertise.
The region must create a chain and add value to produce its food, which is domestic consumption at the local level and a regional level.
'That is why I am saying these young people has done a good thing to engage farmers on important farming aspects and this initiative must be emulated by other constituencies and regions. I also want to see more young people engaging in these types of initiatives, which is a step in the right direction and as leaders, we should give them support', Pakarae added.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency