The Namibian government will distribute maize at a cost of 8 million U.S dollars as part of drought relief to about 417,944 people between May and July this year.
As part of drought mitigation this year, the Namibian government set aside 27 million dollars.
This comes after Cabinet was presented with the Crop and Household Food Security Assessment report in February this year.
The report was compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry in view of the poor rainfall Namibia has experienced this season.
Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Nangula Mbako, who announced Friday in the capital Windhoek, also said the report indicated that much of the country recorded poor rainfall.
Mbako said 4 million dollars will be used to buy maize while 2 million dollars will be for logistics and 1.2 million dollars set aside for storage and labor.
She said currently, the Office of the Prime Minister was distributing food donated by the Federal Republic of Nigeria consisting of 300 metric tonnes of rice, 700 metric tonnes of maize grain and three metric tonnes of fish powder.
Abraham Nehemia, who is the agriculture acting permanent secretary, said it was a matter of time before livestock start dying because of the drought.
Speaking at the same media briefing, Nehemia said grazing across the whole country was badly affected, with the situation in the northern regions of the country showing severe effects.
“The drought situation is really serious, which prompted Government to drill 50 boreholes to provide water in the country,” he said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
