NCS, WFP, LITHON AND IFA LAUNCH GROUNDBREAKING PROJECT

Windhoek, NAMIBIA: The Namibian Correctional Service (NCS), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Impact for Africa S.p.A. (IFA) and Lithon Project Consultants Pty (Ltd) (Lithon) launched an integrated food production project on Thursday, 12th January 2023 at the project site in Mariental. This groundbreaking project will support government’s efforts to increase domestic food production, develop agricultural value chains and improve socio-economic outcomes.

“Namibia has abundant potential to secure its food and can build a concrete and sustainable food system, but it needs support from all stakeholders and actors within the food value chain says, George Fedha, WFP’s Country Director in Namibia. “Investment in productive infrastructure such as tools and seeds, as well as supply chain and logistics sub-activities such as farm and community level storages, packaging, digital markets, transportation network, are equally important.”

The project will plan, develop, and implement an agricultural pilot project aimed at producing a variety of high-value crops for local and international markets. The overall program is a multiyear project anticipated to cover hundreds of hectares across the country, with the pilot phase beginning on an initial 6.8 hectares. The project is expected to bolster agricultural production, boost the local economy, and pave the way for long-term self-sufficiency.

“The project will apply leading-edge methodologies of regenerative and symbiotic agriculture that will make Namibia one of the first countries in the world to apply these practices on a large scale. These farming practices, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity, resulting in carbon drawdown, and improved water cycle” said Mr Adriaan Grobler, Managing Director, Lithon Project Consultants.

As Namibia continues its monumental task of achieving zero hunger by 2030, joint collaborative efforts like these are critical for achieving this goal, and springboarding the achievement of food security and leveraging expertise and resources to accelerate progress toward zero hunger. In addition to supporting increase in productivity, the partners will work to improve access to markets, technology, capacity, skills, and knowledge required to develop a robust, diverse, and resilient initiative.

“I am delighted to confirm that this launch is another milestone brought about by our dedication to collaborate in contributing, not only to the Namibian Correctional Service’s mandate, which is “to provide safe, secure, and humane custody of offenders, rehabilitate and reintegrate them in the community”, but also to the overall food security of the country,” says Commissioner-General Raphael Tuhafeni Hamunyela, Namibian Correctional Service. “Additionally, this joint effort will support the scaling-up of domestic food production, the development of agricultural value chains, and the improvement of socio-economic outcomes”.

This long-term partnership among the parties is catalytic in developing cutting-edge proof of concepts that will tackle the complex, rapidly evolving issues relative to transformative food systems, economic transformation, social protection and progression, and climate change adaptation and mitigation.

This collaborative effort comprises of National Correctional Service, (Project Owner), Lithon Project Consultants, WFP (Joint technical partner and interlocutor), and Impact for Africa (Financier).

The Pilot Project is being executed under the Logo -Together We Achieve Impactful Results-

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability, and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Luise Shikongo, WFP/ Namibia, Mob. +264 81 144 6048

Sem Uutoni, WFP/ Namibia, Mob. +26481 1 44 6054