WINDHOEK, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Namibia recorded a significant improvement in agricultural production, despite the poor rainfall performance across most parts of the country, a report has stated.
The Crop Prospects and Food Security Situation Report July 2018, released on Thursday by the Agriculture Ministry, follows a post-harvest assessment mission conducted in the seven major communal crop-producing regions in Namibia from May 7 to June 4 by the Namibia Early Warning and Food Information Unit.
According to the report the revised crop estimates indicate a substantial improvement in the crop harvest which is significantly higher than last season's harvest and above average.
"Aggregate cereal estimates showed that, the country is expecting an increase of at least 11 percent of last season's harvest and about 26 percent above the average production," the report said.
The report noted that all major crop-producing regions showed above average production, except the Zambezi region, which showed a slight reduction about 1 percent below the average productions.
Meanwhile, household food security remained satisfactory in most regions, following a good agricultural production received and households said the harvest is sufficient to sustain them to the next harvest in May 2019, the report added.
However, few pockets of food insecurity were still being reported, especially in areas that suffered the effects of poor rainfall, excessive rainfall and damages due to Fall Army worms last season, the report said.
The Agriculture Ministry said the main purpose of the assessment was to assess and quantify the 2018 crop harvest in the major crop-growing regions of Namibia and provide early warning report on geographic locations of agronomic anomalies, the effects of floods, droughts, and other significant events.
