Agronomic Board awards set for Gobabis…to celebrate industry excellence

The Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) will host its annual National Agronomy and Horticulture Awards (NAHA) in Gobabis on Thursday, which will see producers from across the country all converging in Omaheke region to celebrate industry excellence, innovation and growth.

To be held at Omateko Lodge on the outskirts of Gobabis, this year’s awards will be celebrated under the theme’Enhancing Resilience in Agriculture Through Crop Farming’ and will be headlined by agriculture minister Inge Zaamwani as keynote speaker.

The ceremony will recognise and award Namibia’s flagship and emerging farmers, processors and traders who are powering the country’s crop sector.

One of the biggest standout moments on the day will be when NAB hands over N$400 000 to two Omaheke community projects under its corporate social investment programme, followed by more than 20 awards honouring excellence across agronomy, horticulture, processing, trade and school gardens.

The awards recognise producers (maize, mahangu and horticulture), processors, traders, exporters, service providers, school gardens and youth.

Competitions include primary production awards (such as outstanding and emerging white maize and mahangu producers), youth participation prizes, innovation awards and value-chain actor accolades.

By honouring excellence among communal and commercial farmers, processors and traders, these awards motivate stakeholders to scale up local production and reduce reliance on food imports.

The awards also push the industry beyond primary farming. Recent ceremonies focused heavily on unlocking potential through agro-processing innovation.

Growth

Namibia’s agronomy and horticulture sector are experiencing steady growth, with the domestic fruit and vegetable market valued at roughly N$2.3 billion annually.

Horticultural exports rose to N$1.9 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, climbing from N$1.7 billion previously.

Major export items include high-value crops like dates and grapes. NAB has reported that more than N$6 billion in potential value remains locked across grain irrigation, fruit exports and local agro-processing. The Board has committed N$250 million to boost the crop sector over a multi-year span and launched a fruit value chain development scheme to reach 400 hectares of local fruit production by 2030.

A key challenge to Namibia’s agronomy and horticulture sector remains recurrent drought conditions and arid climates, pushing farmers to rely on irrigation.

High input costs, weak logistics infrastructure, limited access to financing and phytosanitary hurdles constrain small-scale producers from meeting formal market standards. Also, most value-added products are still imported because the local processing subsector remains in an infant stage.

-ohembapu@nepc.com.na

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