UNAM intends to industrialise | nbc

The University of Namibia is positioning itself to become a key contributor to Namibia’s vision of industrialization by 2030.The institution’s NeuDamm Campus has since introduced programmes aimed at matching the skills required for industrialization.

As part of its contribution to industrialization, UNAM’s veterinary academic hospital takes the students through a chain of comprehensive scientific and practical work with a variety of species and inspects meat products to see if they are safe for human consumption.

Currently, student veterinarians conduct surgical procedures on patient animals. Students vets are also trained on artificial insemination, the process of retrieving semen from a bull and inserting it into a female animal’s reproductive system for the purpose of fertilization.

Surplus semen is preserved and stored for future use.

UNAM’s Associate Dean, Dr. Anna Maraise, said, “We are a very young school, a very new school, and to guarantee a case slot for each student, each student must get sufficient practice in a number of different areas on patients. Because the hospital is still so young, we don’t have enough cases for them to practice on at the moment, hence, students are sent to the University of Pretoria to get some more training in their hospital.”

The school receives animals from as far away as the Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regions.

Namibian farmers will also benefit from animal semen collection, freezing, and storage. It is the school’s vision to export these products to the African continent in the future, with the Namibian government being its biggest target client.

With most of UNAM’s clients coming from the northern region, when the time comes, the institution plans to establish stations there and teach them how to use artificial insemination or supply them with semen.
There is also a section that deals with the production and processing of milk and meat.

According to Namibia’s Vision 2030, the country plans to increase food production by 30%, while the share of the national livestock production market is projected to increase by 10% from the current 4%.