Rundu
The Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency’s (AMTA) Rundu fresh produce business hub regional manager Inekela Kambindji and his team on Wednesday donated seeds to the Kavango East Region to support the region’s food production operation, ‘Operation Werengendje.’
Operation Werengendje is aimed at assisting and inspiring Kavango East residents to produce food even in their backyards on a small scale and later perhaps on a large scale elsewhere. Operation Werengedje was launched at Popa Falls during the Kavango East Development Conference held on September 20 and is named after a termite. “We named this operation of food production in our region to be … kind of a termite, as they are very hardworking insects. Before summer they will come out and collect food and go and store them in their holes with the purpose of having enough food when the rainy season starts, as then they will not have enough time to collect food,” said Kavango East Regional Governor Samuel Mbambo.
“We thought of the wisdom of those termites, so we decided to name our special operation of food production, our contribution to the Harambee Prosperity Plan, Operation Werengedje, which is in our local language,” Mbambo added.
AMTA gave the governor some carrot, tomato, beetroot and onion seeds. “I will also start my small garden at the backyard of my office to set an example,” Mbambo said.
During the meeting with the regional governor the Rundu AMTA manager Kambindji said the Rundu fresh produce business hub is going to assist Operation Werengendje in any way that it can. “We just came to honour our promise. We brought you seeds, not a lot but obviously they will be able to help where they can. With these seeds that we are giving, AMTA is ready to support farmers to realise Operation Werengendje,” Kambindji said.
“We came to tell you that as AMTA we are ready to give farmers training especially on good agricultural practices, and we would also be willing to enter into contractual agreements with them so that whenever their produce is ready for harvest we can go and collect them and pay them for their produce, and these hybrid seeds we are giving to your office are for free,” Kambindji added.
According to Mbambo this operation is just one way that the region can contribute to the Harambee Prosperity Plan. “Because [the Harambee Prosperity Plan] is a wide concept, everyone can contribute towards what he or she believes can make the HPP a success. Now in this region we thought that since we are known as the food basket of the nation, why can’t we put our efforts and energy into something that we know we are capable of, which is the production of food,” Mbambo said.
Governor Mbambo will meet with various stakeholders on October 11 to further solicit input for the food production operation, Operation Werengedje.