TİKA Supports the Fight of Namibian Farmers against Malaria

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) distributed mosquito nets to 1,000 farmers who are members of the Namibian Farmers’ Club Program, Development Aid from People to People, to protect them from malaria.

Local people who live on the border between Angola and Namibia and carry out subsistence farming activities on arable lands are struggling with malaria as well as the pandemic. In the region where many people die due to the lack of protective equipment, local people can only carry out agricultural activities under difficult conditions.

Carrying out a project to support the fight against malaria, eliminate it, and strengthen the national capacity, TİKA provided mosquito nets to 1,000 farmers to protect them from malaria. After the first phase in which the nets were distributed in Mayana, Mabushe, Kangweru, Kangongo, Kantenture, Mbambi, Mukuvi, Makena, Kashira, Sharughanda, Katere, Kasivi, and Mupini in eastern and western Kawango, it is aimed to deliver the nets to members in settlements such as Kangongo and Mbapuka in the second phase.

Launched to adopt result-oriented methods to increase food security and household income by ensuring that farmers adopt sustainable conservation agriculture (CA) methods, the Namibian Farmers’ Club Program, Development Aid from People to People (DAPP), brings together small-scale farmers. DAPP carries out activities in many fields such as supporting cooperation, diversifying products, teaching soil and water conservation methods, and promoting cost-efficient and productive working methods.

In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified 21 countries that could defeat malaria by 2020. Namibia is among these 21 countries and participates in the innovative regional project with the goal of zero malaria in 2020. The cooperation between the WHO/AFRO and the Ministry of Health and Social Services of Namibia (MoHSS) continues in six districts in Omusati, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, and eastern and western Kawango, where there is a high number of malaria cases.