The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) hosted a press conference and launch of the project titled “Capacity building Support to Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) to improve its governance and support services to its members, government and other stakeholders”. This took place in Windhoek, at the NNFU office.
Following the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed between FAO and NNFU in 2015; since then, the two organisation have worked closely together in pursuit of national and international goals, within the scope and limit of each organization`s mandate, financial, material and human resources to implement various key projects tailored towards supporting rural and emerging farmers.
During the launch; NNFU acting president Amon Kapi, stated that the project will provide much-needed development and review of NNFU policies and guidelines including training and support to Regional Farmers Union (RFUs), Farmers Associations (FAs) and the NNFU leaders. Kapi further highlighted that the project intends to support across the governance structure of NNFU from bottom to the top. The review will include Regional Farmers Union (RFUs) and Farmers Associations (FAs) ` constitutions and other governing documents such as Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
The NNFU and its affiliate is known to have been facing numerous challenges in the past because the existing policies and guidelines does not adequately address governance and structural issues.
The Assistant FAO representative to Namibia, Ferdinard Mwapopi stated that the partnership is motivated by the meaningful impact that organizations such as NNFU are making in the lines of Namibians, most especially rural farming communities.
FAO`s work in rural transformation aims to unlock the development potential of rural institutions, reduce inequalities, promote inclusivity and contribute to socio economic empowerment of rural women and youth.
Ferdinard also highlighted that as part of this partnership, FAO is tasked with providing both technical and financial support towards the union`s constitution review process. This will also include the formulation of various constitutions for its affiliates that consist of 14 Regional Farmers Unions (RFUs) and over 130 Farmers Associations (FAs).
As a specialized technical agency within the scope of this project, FAO will support NNFU by ensuring the achievement of: developing and reviewing constitutions and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of NNFU and its Regional Farmers Unions (RFUs) and Farmers Associations (FAs). FAO will also be inducting and training new union leaders, including those of NNFU and its RFUs and FAs.