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Namibia: Farmers Urge Govt to Act Swiftly On Food Price Squeeze
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
20 May 2008
Posted to the web 20 May 2008
Brigitte Weidlich
Windhoek
COMMUNAL farmers have called on Government to intervene and ease the soaring food prices.
The Namibia National Farmers' Union (NNFU), representing communal farmers, demanded "a speedy intervention of our Government to put regulatory tax and price mechanisms in place".
Pinthile Davids, president of the NNFU, said yesterday it was "a shame for a pro-poor government not to have a timely intervention response in place" in times such as these.
Global prices of basic foods like wheat, maize, rice and cooking oil have shot up in recent weeks, fuelled by growing demand in Asian countries, drought in Australia and the ongoing increases of fuel prices.
According to Davids, Namibia's predominantly subsistence and communal farmers are worried about "the ever-increasing input costs" needed to produce food for their own consumption.
In the same vein, Davids said the NNFU was worried about the "slow and non-systematic implementation" of Government's Green Scheme, which was supposed to be the blueprint to boost Namibia's local food production.
"The NNFU participated in the drafting of the Green Scheme policy and its design, but we are now deliberately ignored and isolated in the implementation process of the Green Scheme," Davids said.
"This scheme is also meant for our members and we have the right to be consulted and be part of the process.
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We call on the new Agriculture Minister, John Mutorwa, to intervene and change the current status quo for the advancement of agriculture, which is the backbone of our economy."
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