Youth welcome horticulture project
NDONGA-LINENA - The young people who benefited from the self-employment youth project in horticulture welcomed the initiative by the youth ministry.
The youth made these remarks recently during an official handover ceremony in Kangweru village of the Ndonga-Linena constituency.
The project plans to address the joblessness among the youth in peri- urban and rural areas. Additionally, the project aims to encourage young people to produce crops for food security.
About 84 young people are to benefit from the project countrywide, while six young people were selected as beneficiaries in the Kavango East region.
The ministry of youth will support them with skills and materials to produce crops for the next 12 months.
One of the beneficiaries,
Stephen Muhembo, hailed the initiative and commended the government for meeting them halfway by offering them such opportunities.
“Words are not enough to express our gratitude but the actions we are going to take will definitely show how grateful we are for this project. I would like to thank the ministry of youth and the National Youth Council for the great idea brought upon us. We would also like to thank our headman for availing this land to us, which will be used for this project,” Muhembo said.
Muhembo also encouraged the youth to make use of
this project to empower themselves with skills and to grab every opportunity availed to them.
He also said that this project will enable the youth to contribute to the food security of the country.
Rauna Ntjamba, the chairperson of the youth forum in the Mashare constituency also echoed the same sentiments as Muhembo and promised to share the idea with the youth in her constituency. She further noted that the only way Namibia can sustain itself in terms of food security is when the youth are at the forefront of agricultural activities.
Deputy youth minister Emma Kantema-Gaomas at the launch called on the youth of Kavango East region to become employment creators for their peers and change agents in their community by engaging in horticultural activities.
Kantema-Gaomas further urged the regional governor and councillors to support the young farmers, as this initiative will need coordinated efforts from various stakeholders. The government through the ministry of youth is planning to launch a mushroom project that will see more young people benefiting from its empowerment initiatives.