Unleash Agriculture potential to fight poverty and unemployment – Schlettwein

Samuel Shinedima

THE Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein, said that the potential for the agriculture sector must be greatly unleashed to drive thousands out of poverty and unemployment through achieving more inclusive growth and raising the share of the agriculture Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He made these remarks on Wednesday during the 2022 Agricultural Outlook Conference, a partnership of all the farmers unions in the sector, such as the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU), Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers Union, the Previously Disadvantaged Namibian Farmers Union and the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU).

Schlettwein noted that, since the dissolving effects of the 2019 drought and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the agricultural sector has demonstrated its resilience as one of the few sectors that sustained a positive growth line, thus securing current and future economic recovery prospects.

“Notably, the return to positive growth trajectory for the national economy sets the necessary condition for the country to realize per capita income gains and reduce poverty and unemployment through growth,” Schlettwein said.

The minister pointed out that such an impactful growth proposition is only possible when growth translates into job creation and income generation.
He further noted that the current high frequency data obtained from the Second Quarter GDP for 2022 indicate that the sector’s real output expanded by about 2% year-on-year, since the rebound of 6.3% in 2020.

“The agricultural sector distinguishes itself through its inherent propensity to impact positively on lives and livelihoods: boosting national food security and food self-sufficiency through increased agricultural mechanization, increased productivity and production,” he concluded.

The minister encouraged farmers to continue engaging in transformational events that promote innovation, in order to address the constraints and actively implement growth initiatives in horticulture, livestock and associated value chains within and across the sector.