Namibia
- 2.3 million
- population
- 17.4%
- of people live on less than US$39 a month
- 60%
- of cereal needs are covered by imports
Classified as an upper-middle-income country, between 2000 and 2015 Namibia has seen sustained economic growth. However, several hurdles still remain on the road to achieving Zero Hunger – including poverty, malnutrition and widespread inequalities.
Rapid urbanization and persistently high unemployment rates – at 34 percent of the total labour force, affecting mostly youth and women – have contributed to a growing number of poor lacking access to food and basic social services. In 2017 the poverty rate stood at 17.4 percent.
Namibia produces about 40 percent of the food it consumes and is highly dependent on imports. This means that while food is available, price fluctuations can make it difficult to access for 28 percent of Namibian families to access food. This particularly affects the 80 percent of the population who depend on markets to fulfill their food needs. Smallholder farmers also have limited access to nutritious food due to recurrent droughts and floods, low productivity and limited access to land.
What the World Food Programme is doing in Namibia
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Shock responsive social safety nets
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WFP provides technical assistance to enhance the Government’s capacity to manage and implement emergency relief programmes, urban food assistance programmes, including technical advice on supply chain management and the creation of a unified national system for beneficiary identification and registration, so as to avoid possible gaps or overlaps.
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School meals
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WFP supports the Ministry of Education in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the school meals programme. This includes the development of a school feeding policy, implementation guidelines and a monitoring plan as well as technical support on a web-based information system to capture monitoring information.
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Food security analysis
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WFP helps the Government strengthen the evidence-base on food security through assessments to inform policy dialogue and programme design. The Food and Nutrition Security Monitoring System, which was developed with WFP support, collects information on individual households' food consumption, their income and the strategies they develop to cope with difficult situations to allow for appropriate response mechanisms.
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Zero Hunger Programme implementation
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WFP advocates for programmes that will lead to Zero Hunger and help build the required implementation capacity. This involves training government staff and facilitating learning and information sharing, as well as the provision of high quality technical expertise; supporting monitoring; promoting standards and procedures in food assistance programmes; assisting with emergency responses and preparedness efforts; and supporting advocacy and coordination mechanisms.
In focus
Namibia news releases
Go to pagePartners and donors
Achieving Zero Hunger is the work of many. Our work in Namibia is made possible by the support and collaboration of our partners and donors, including:Find out more about the state of food security in Namibia
Visit the food security analysis pageContacts
Windhoek
38-44 Stein Street, Klein Windhoek
Phone: +264 (0)61 2046359
Fax: +264 61 247 065