REHOBOTH – Making fruits and vegetables as affordable as possible to the community and ensuring needy families don’t go to bed hungry, as well as creating employment opportunities for the youth, are some of the driving factors keeping the Oanob Hotsprings Garden in Rehoboth flourishing. 

Unlike many privatel-owned gardens, the Oanob Hotsprings Garden is community-focused, and its operations are premised on ensuring the Rehoboth community and nearby settlements are well-supplied with nutritious and affordable fruits and vegetables. 

The garden is situated in Rehoboth’s Block E location, and has since 2017 served as an oasis of hope for the improvished members of the community, especially those living in the informal settlements of the town. 

The garden boasts a borehole, and uses the flood and drip irrigation systems for its operations. It currently employs 11 permanent workers, and that number triples when harvesting peaks. 

In summer, the garden focuses mainly on planting green and red peppers, tomatoes, watermelons and other summer crops, while in winter they turn their attention to resilient crops such as cabbages, onions, carrots and beetroot. 

Not only does it supply to various supermarkets through independent suppliers in Rehoboth, Windhoek and other towns, but the garden also serves as the main supplier for many of the town’s informal traders. 

Local traders 

One of the informal fruits and vegetable traders Moses Shikwambi, who sells his wares near the town’s shopping mall, said gardens such as the Oanob Hotsprings Garden and others have given them a second opportunity at life as they can create employment for themselves and provide for their families. 

“I can confidently tell you that our green and red peppers as well as watermelons are far cheaper than in most supermarkets here in Rehoboth, and the quality of our products is the same as those in the shops. What we sell here are A-grade products and not low-quality produce, as many think. 

The gardens supply us with their A-grade products at good prices, and those that are deemed low-quality are then sold to needy community members cheaply. At times, especially if you buy straight from the site, you can get a green pepper for as low as N$2.00 or N$1.50, while in the supermarkets it costs you N$10.00 to N$12.00,” said father of three Shikwambi. 

Also operating close to the Rehoboth shopping mall is another trader Josephine Macheka, who sells tomatoes, onions, watermelons and peppers, among others. 

She has been surviving from her business since 2020, and is appreciative of gardens such as Oanob Hotsprings Garden and others, who have been consistent partners in making sure street fruit and vegetable vendors remain well-supplied and self-sufficient. 

“Through them, we are able to feed ourselves and our families. They always deliver on time, as they are just a phone call away. When we are out of stock, you can call them to place your order, and in a few hours, your products would be delivered. These are all quality products by the way; not just any randomly-picked fruits and vegetables. So, we need more of such gardens to fight unemployment and poverty here in Rehoboth as well as in the whole country in general,” said Macheka. 

-ohembapu@nepc.com.na