Staff Reporter
THE Cabinet has directed that the drought relief programme be extended to families and individuals registered under the marginalized communities’ program and the uncovered food bank beneficiaries until such food rations can be distributed on a monthly basis by the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare.
This decision was announced in the 17th Cabinet decisions of 2023, read by the Minister of Information, Communication, and Technology, Dr. Peya Mushelenga.
The decision to extend food aid to impoverished households comes at a time when most Namibian households are experiencing food insecurity due to rising inflation and drought. Dr. Mushelenga said that the Cabinet directed the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare to provide the data of the marginalized communities and unregistered food bank beneficiaries to the Office of the Prime Minister in order to benefit from the drought relief program.
“Cabinet further directed the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare to consider the distribution of food for the marginalized communities on a monthly basis and to increase the food rations. Cabinet approved that the Regional Councils should ensure that only households meeting the set criteria of beneficiaries are registered for drought relief food assistance,” Dr. Mushelenga said.
He added that Cabinet further approved that the Office of the Prime Minister (Directorate Disaster Risk Management) should provide resources to Regional Councils to ensure adequate human resources capacity for seamless administration of the drought relief programme.
In addition to this, Dr. Mushelenga said that Cabinet approved the provision of a 20kg maize meal bag monthly per household for the duration of the drought relief programme, replacing the 12.5kg bag.
To ensure that the food rations reach the intended households and beneficiaries, he added that Cabinet took note of the Introduction of Commodity and Beneficiaries Management Information System (CBMIS) to monitor and manage commodity movement. The pilot project of the CBMIS will be undertaken by the Directorate of Disaster Risk Management.
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