Okafa-koishongo
As the drought persists, small-scale farmers along the Calueque-Oshakati Water Canal use water drawn from the canal to their advantage to produce enough to sustain their families and to sell the surplus on the local market.
One such farmer is 41-year-old Absalom Johannes from Okafa-koishongo village near Outapi, who says poverty can be defeated once every able-bodied person works towards food production.
Johannes, however, expressed concern that many young people have developed a “dependency syndrome” and prefer spending time consuming alcohol, instead of being productive.
He said, while not all the communities have access to potable water, he encouraged the privileged few communities with access to water to start small backyard gardens. He says he is eager to share his knowledge and skills with emerging subsistence farmers.
“I am ready to share my expertise, because I want more people to join the industry so that we can work towards breaking the dependency syndrome and producing our own food,” he said.
Johannes, who started with only one hectare of land in 2005, has since extended his garden to five hectares.
He hails from Okalongo in the same region and says land availability is a challenge, but he hopes to further expand his garden. He currently employs four permanent and two temporary employees.
He sells his produce to Agro-Marketing and Trade (AMTA) at the Fresh Produce Hub at Ongwediva and to passers-by en route to Ruacana and Outapi.
Johannes also expressed concern about the decline in the number of customers visiting their horticulture projects. He said they previously depended on Angolan customers, but since the collapse of the Kwanza, customer numbers have dwindled.
“With AMTA in our communities we remain hopeful that our sales will not decrease further,” he remarked. Johannes also praised AMTA for expediting the payments for the produce that farmers sell to the agency, as the payments are processed within a week, thanks to a new system.
Previously farmers waited until their produce was sold out before AMTA paid them.