Lands ministry receives Covid PPE
By Staff Reporter
LAST week, the German Embassy handed over Covid-19 protective equipment to the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) consisting of three-ply masks, hand sanitisers, anti-bacterial hand soap, spray bottles and disinfectant refills worth roughly N$752 000.
The donation was made by Dr Gabriele Geier, head of cooperation at the German Embassy and Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to Mildred Kambinda, acting deputy executive director in the department of Agricultural Development at MAWLR.
The equipment according to Geier is a token of further German assistance to Namibia in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. It is the objective of this donation to assist the MAWLR in ensuring the health safety of its staff at respective workplaces countrywide and its frontline workers in delivering services to farmers amid the pandemic.
Geier stated that the equipment was being financed by Germany via the joint project ‘Farming for Resilience’, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German government.
“This protective equipment aims at assisting the ministry in ensuring the health safety of its staff at respective workplaces all over Namibia §while delivering services and serving farmers and local communities countrywide on a daily basis.”
She also expressed her sincere appreciation for all the workers in the field for their engagement and dedication despite all the difficulties everyone is facing.
She emphasised as well, that the pandemic has much broader dimensions than pure medical ones.
“While it is of utmost importance to put all kinds of protective and preventive measures into place in order to protect as many lives as possible – it is equally important to look at livelihoods, inequalities, and economic and social resilience.
“The main objective of the F4R project is to support the MAWLR to strengthen the agri-food sector and to improve the livelihoods of communal small-holder farmers.
Since Namibia is still highly dependent on food imports, especially vegetables and fruits, increasing local production for own consumption and markets as well as diversification of production could contribute significantly to increase resilience towards external and climate-related shocks.
In addition, it could increase employment, incomes of local farmers and nutrition security.”
The consignments of medical supplies which arrived from Germany in July and August in Namibia represent a value of over 11 million euros, approximately N$190 million.