In Numbers
Total people assisted in April 2024: 12,442
Home-Grown School Feeding Programme: 10,985 school children
Integrated Community-Based Food Systems Projects: 1,457 beneficiaries
Net Funding Requirements: USD 6.1 m (November 2023 – May 2024)
Operational Updates
Early Childhood Development Sector Reform Programme Supported by the European Union (EU)
• To strengthen the capacity and policy framework for effective management of early childhood development centers (ECDs), the United Nations has launched a reform initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare (MGEPESW) and the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoEAC). This initiative, with technical support from WFP and UNICEF and financial backing from the European Union in Namibia, aims to enhance the delivery of ECD services.
• Over a three-year period, the programme, which has a budget of approximately NAD 320 million (USD 17,376,576), will focus on improving access to nutrition and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) across ECD centers nationwide. As part of its role, WFP will work with MoEAC to improve the diets of 9,657 children enrolled in ECD programmes.
Namibia Achieves Record Levels of Food Self-Sufficiency
• On April 5th, WFP and the Namibian Agronomic Board celebrated a significant milestone: 55 percent selfsufficiency in local vegetable production. Additionally, the country has reached an overall self-sufficiency of 45 percent in the domestic production of agronomic crops (grains) and horticultural produce (fruits and vegetables). This marks a substantial increase from 15 years ago, when horticultural products had a self-sufficiency rate of just 5 percent, and agronomic crops were at about 20 percent.
Mbora Primary School
• In partnership with WFP, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) initiated a food systems project at Mbora Primary School. This initiative aims to boost food and nutritional security for school going children by establishing an irrigation system and a nursery, and by providing seedlings, nursery materials, equipment, and water tanks.
• The school has expressed enthusiasm for the project’s positive impact. Their first harvest, primarily of melons, generated approximately NAD 2,000.00 (USD 108) in revenue. Before the project began, the school and 15 volunteers participated in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training, conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) and the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ). Looking ahead, OPM plans to install additional water tanks, and MAWLR intends to start drilling boreholes to support the project further.
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