The National Youth Service (NYS) recently made significant strides towards becoming self-sustainable and accessing the mainstream market after it achieved its first merchantable potatoes and sweet potatoes' harvest.
The booming harvest of potatoes and sweet potatoes is from the NYS production centre at Rietfontein in the Otjozondjupa region, and will soon be hitting the local market.
The harvest, which covers a combined one-hectare total area under the Centre Pivot Irrigation System, will see most of the 25 tonnes yield being distributed to various retailers across the country, with a smaller portion going towards the feeding of trainees at the production centre.
The production proved a success thanks to the support of the Namibia Training Authority (NTA) Agriculture Technology Grant, which was awarded to the NYS in 2022 for the production of vegetables on a 3.5-hectare plot at Rietfontein.
The purpose of the grant was to also enable the NYS to generate revenue to further fund its programmes, especially in the agriculture space.
“The current potato harvesting, which began over the weekend, not only highlights the Service’s strong commitment to diversifying crop production for the sustainability of its operations, but also contributes to the government’s objective of achieving food security and enhancing nutrition by 2030. We look forward to supplying the nation with our farm-fresh and sustainably grown potatoes to boost nutrition and food sustainability countrywide,” said the NYS on its website.
The commendable harvest comes at a time when Namibia is grappling with an annual N$138 million import bill for potatoes due to low production and supply by the local producers, who are unable to meet local demand.
Potatoes are a staple food for many Namibians, and they provide an important source of carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals in their diet.
Namibians eat more potatoes than local farmers can produce.
Thus, the import of potatoes is necessary.
By cultivating more potatoes locally, Namibia will be able to reduce its dependence on imported food, and strengthen its ability to feed its population.
The country’s potato demand accounts for almost 45% of horticultural produce demand, whereas domestic potato farmers usually harvest around 10 328 metric tonnes valued at about N$10 million, and these are traded in the formal market.
Potatoes traded at informal markets are estimated to have a ratio of 41% in relation to the tonnage traded via formal markets.
The huge import bill points to the immense opportunities for Namibian farmers to up their game and bolster their operations in order to fill the gap that currently exists in the market.
In addition to fresh potatoes, from 2016 to 2020, the domestic market witnessed an import of about 3 900 metric tonnes on average of frozen potatoes.
- ohembapu@nepc.com.na