WINDHOEK, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's household food security remained satisfactory in most regions of the country, following a good agricultural production received last season, according to a report by the Namibia Early Warning and Food Information Unit (NEWFIU).
The report, which was released on Tuesday, follows the first Crop Assessment mission which was conducted in the seven major communal crop-producing regions from Feb.5 to March 2, 2018.
Namibia's Agriculture Ministry said the main purpose of the mission was to assess crop condition in the major crop-growing regions of Namibia and provide early warning report on geographic locations of agronomic anomalies, the effects of floods, droughts, and other significant events.
Moreover, the mission assessed changes in household food security, livestock and pasture conditions.
According to the report, at the time of the assessment in the major communal crop producing regions where over 60 percent of the Namibian population lives, majority of households are reportedly still dependent on their last season's production for food access.
"Household owners added that, their last season's production is sufficient to take them through to the next harvest in May this year. Farmers in these regions obtained good crop harvest last season and many were able to sell their surplus to the commercial millers and or Agricultural Marketing and Trade Agency (AMTA) for Strategic Food Reserve re-stocking purposes," the report said.
However, the report said that few pockets of food insecurity were still being reported, especially in areas that suffered the effects of poor rainfall, excessive rainfall and damages due to Fall Army worms last season.
In terms of grazing for land for livestock, the report said that grazing recovery from the dry season last year is reported to have been affected by poor rainfall performance which is said to have dominated the 2017/2018 agricultural season.
"Most parts of the country reported distress grazing conditions which is largely attributed to poor rainfall conditions. However, grazing in the north-eastern part of the country is said to be much better than the rest of the country," the report added.
Meanwhile, NEWFIU said it will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds and provide update information accordingly.
