Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Land Reform Minister Inge Zaamwani and the Director General of the National Planning Commission, Dr. Kaire Mbuende, officiated the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a 1000-cattle-capacity feedlot and related infrastructure at Etunda in the Omusati Region under the Livestock Support Programme.

The feedlot, valued at N$80 million, is part of a broader N$400 million support package to the livestock sector in the Northern Communal Areas.

The project is a long-standing collaboration between the European Union and the Agriculture Ministry, which embarked on an ambitious series of building and renovation efforts to support the livestock sector in the Northern Communal Areas.

The facility will include modernising the slaughterhouse in Opuwo, Kunene Region; renovating quarantine facilities; constructing a multipurpose farm at Omutambo-gwomawe; and constructing an artificial insemination centre at the Okapya Livestock Development Centre in the Oshikoto Region.

The project will further build a new agriculture development centre, veterinary office, and staff housing at Nkurenkuru in the Kavango West Region; upgrade the action facility at Ncaute in Kavango East; and enhance quarantine facilities and farm infrastructure at Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi Region.