Director of Ceremonies, 

Governor of the Hardap region; Honorable Salamon April 

Honorable Councilor of Daweb Constituency: Honorable Herculus Jantze; 

The Executive Director of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Mr. Theofilius Nghitila; 

Traditional Authorities 

Project Committee members of /Hubies Conservancy 

Heads and staff members of the Ministry of Environment Forestry and Tourism 

Staff members of the EIF, 

Distinguished community members of /Huibes Conservancy and beneficiaries of this grant 

Members of the media 

Ladies and gentlemen 

Over the past two months, I had a privilege of handing over quite a number of successful climate change interventions countrywide being implemented by the Environmental Investment Fund. It is therefore my distinct pleasure to close off these series of events with officially handing over yet another successful climate change project entitled “Integrated Wildlife and Sustainable Rangeland Management for improved livelihoods”, in Hardap region. 

Director of Ceremony, 

The official handover of these Projects indicates the commitment Namibia has in her pursuit to ensuring sustainable natural resource management as well as an integral part of national efforts to poverty eradication. 

Persistent drought caused by low rainfall as a result of climate change is recognized as one of the greatest global challenges of our time and we are fully aware that Namibia with a specific of Hardap region is one of the vulnerable regions in the country to the effects and impacts of climate change. 

Namibia is classified as the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa. It has a highly variable and unpredictable climate, which is subject to great temporal and spatial perturbations in rainfall patterns. As approximately 70% of Namibia’s population is directly dependent on subsistence agriculture and livestock husbandry, climate change poses an acute challenge to livelihoods. As you are aware, natural resources are the backbone of the Namibian economy. Our economy rests on four pillars: mining, agriculture, fishery and tourism. All of these are directly linked to sustainable land use applications. 

Nevertheless, much more will have to be done to realize the full potential of our economies. For our economy to flourish, we must invest in small and medium scale producers especially, mobilize them to stop producing for their immediate family needs alone but to produce, and view their activities as commercial ones that can substantially increase their earnings and improve their livelihoods. If this can be achieved, we shall have begun to seriously address the problem of hunger, malnutrition, poverty and food shortages in our country. 

Director of Ceremony, 

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism leads the Namibian delegation in negotiation at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt currently underway. Our position is clear, and Namibia sets her highly ambitious target of reducing greenhouse gases by 91% by 2030 as set out in our updated NDC. Namibia is set to be a renewable energy hub in the world given its abundant solar and wind energy generation capacity as well as massive open land, while sustainably conserving the biodiversity of our mother land as we transit to clean energy. 

It is the responsibility of us as law makers to ensure that the interest of Namibian and her beautiful natural resources are protected and sustainable managed for the future generation and their generation to come. I am therefore convinced that, the negotiators at the Conference of Parties in Egypt will deliver in the best interest of all Namibians. 

As such we urged the developed nations to implements and make available accessible climate finance to the developing countries for loss and damage and ensuring adaptation actions are realised especially in Africa where we are paying the highest price of global warming. 

The Ministry of Environment Forestry and Tourism will continue to peruse the benefits of the Paris Agreement by implementing government policies and strategies that promotes accessing climate finance and implements national projects aimed at strengthening adaptation capacity, enhancing community resilient to climate change and reducing object poverty in Namibia. 

Director of Ceremony!! 

The “Integrated Wildlife and Sustainable Rangeland Management for improved livelihoods” is funded by the Environmental Investment Fund and being implemented by the /Huibes Conservancy in Hardap region. The project aimed at enhancing climate change resilience of communities in the /Huibes landscape area through integrated farming systems. 

I am delighted to inform you that today I will be handing over, Two completed hydroponic units for fodder production, 6 backyard gardens, 292 Goats of which 10 are rams for small stock breeding scheme, Chicken Feed and feeders. I am also informed that 400 chickens are procured and will be delivered to identified households as beneficiaries. 

In my conclusion, let me emphasize to our farming communities that small farmers have the potential to contribute significantly to national food security as well as national economic growth of this country. It is in our best interest to foster conservation of our natural resources through community based natural resource management system as established by the Ministry of Environment Forestry and Tourism. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the /Huibes Conservancy and their supporting entity for a successful implementation of this project. I wish you the best as you continue with the implementation of this project. 

Thank you.