BY DESIE HEITA
Windhoek — Namibian Marine Phosphate (NMP),
which continues to draw attention from environmental groups over its mining
methods for the phosphate deposits at the Namibian ocean bottom, says the
mining output will play an important role in food security in Namibia, and in
the entire southern African region.
The company says it would be producing
"high good phosphate, which is an essential component in the production of
fertilisers, while making a significant contribution towards the empowerment of
women, who constitute the majority of subsistence farmers on the African
continent".
Namibia Marine Phosphate is a joint venture
between Australia's two companies, UCL Resources Limited and Minemakers
Limited, and Namibian company Tungeni Investments.
Mining activities for the phosphate deposits,
dubbed the Sandpiper Project, are located in the Namibian waters of the South
Atlantic Ocean, 60 kilometres off the coast of Namibia and cover a combined
area of 7,000 square kilometres in the regional phosphate-enriched province to
the south of Walvis Bay in water depths of 180 metres to 300 metres.
Namibia Marine Phosphate (NMP) points at the
country's agricultural potential, which has thus far been constrained by a low
average rainfall and few perennial rivers and has to rely on its trading
partners for most of the necessities it requires to feed its people.
"Some 28 percent of households are
classified as 'poor' in Namibia, meaning they spend 60 percent or more of their
total consumption on food. This phenomenon impacts the nation's children, with
24 percent of all children under the age of five classified as malnourished or
stunted.
"This is a serious problem. If we do not
spend urgent attention on this problem, we are in effect admitting that a
quarter of our country's population does not need to be included in our vision
of the future," says NMP.
Given the expected effects of climate change
on the country, the company says: "Namibia is a more fortunate country
than most, because it has a world-class resource phosphate deposit on its
doorstep. Making use of this resource - an act of nature and geography - has
the potential to fundamentally change the future of Namibia, for the
better."
NMP says food security and agricultural
productivity must be kept on the agenda. There are several policy tools the
country can use in this instance, but given the country's scarce water
resources, an important strategy will be to make fertilisers more accessible to
farmers, for whom fertilisers are a significant cost input.
Original Article Here
No comments:
Post a Comment