TSANDI: Deputy Prime Minister (PM) Marco Hausiku says any nation which is unable to produce enough food for itself will remain vulnerable to external shocks and potential internal unrest.

Hausiku said this whilst officiating at the commissioning of national strategic grain storage facilities, or silos, at Tsandi settlement in the Omusati Region yesterday.

Since 2008, the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF), has constructed and continued to expand silos in all crop-producing regions of the country.

The establishments of the national strategic food reserves in Namibia are in line with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Dar-Es-Salaam Declaration that calls for the establishment of national strategic grain reserves and regional food reserve facilities in SADC countries.

National strategic food reserves, or silos as they are also known, are national food storage facilities for cereals such as millet (mahangu), maize, wheat and rice established for the purpose of guaranteeing food security at national and household level, in times of need.

Thus far, Government through the MAWF has constructed silos at Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi Region; Rundu in the Kavango Region; Omuthiya in the Oshikoto Region; Okongo in the Ohangwena Region; and now at Tsandi in the Omusati Region.