Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare has applauded prominent businessman and farmer Leake Hangala for setting up a multi-million dollar milling plant at Ombanje Farm in Otavi.
Ngurare says such infrastructure development heeds President Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah's call for regions to have manufacturing plants as part of NDP6 that aims to achieve Vision 2030.
Following a tour around the new state-of-the-art milling plant, Ngurare says many need to emulate Leake Hangala of Hangala Foods as a point of study to develop the nation's agricultural food processing sector.
"Professor Hangala here will go to the Unam of Namibia, the UNAM of NUST and the Unam of IUM to speak. He will be speaking as a professor with empirical data, because he will speak of what he started from nothing to something, and I, therefore being here, just hope the young people out there need not go too far to look for role models that are readily available in our midst. So, Doctor Hangala, it's true the president has said we must have manufacturing or plants in all 14 regions, and it is because we must walk the talk."
Ngurare also called on stakeholders to also look into setting up food testing labs, which the government will support.
"We must begin a conversation so that we have our own laboratory and the capacity to be able to do it. If we find that young people are lacking in that space and if we need to import labour to set it up, we should do it, but whatever it is, we do, Namibia must have the capacity to test its own food. I hope NIPD and Agribank will not disagree with me. So you see, I'm saying these things, it's not that I don't know that there may be some other challenges here and there. I am saying going forward from here, the first patkos is, "Let's converge and find one another and be able to set up that laboratory."
Founding Executive Chairman of Hangala Group, Leake Hangala, on his part said he welcomed the call for factories to be set up.
The Ombanje Milling plant produces 50 tonnes of three different products per day, which are sifted and unsifted maize meal, under the brand Otavi Golden.
"I think the most important thing is the discussion that we must have as a country. The discussion that must be done at this operational level. When the prime minister was going through the mill and so on, getting explanations from my colleagues, these were practical issues that we needed to address in order to address food production in the country. One thing I don't forget is that he said that he wants to see a factory in each constituency.
Ombanje Foods representative Cornelius Uuyumba had this to say.
"We create employment, support local economy activities, contribute to food security and serve food sufficiency. We remain committed to working with government, farmers and other stakeholders and communities to grow Namibia's agricultural sector."