Windhoek
One of the most qualified and experienced conservation agriculturists in the country, Fabian von Hase, will on July 23 present a course on Farm Krumhuk on growing vegetables/herbs organically from seed.
The upcoming course is part of a series of four courses on organic gardening and forms a base for future courses on permaculture. The courses have been designed in response to a recent Training Needs Assessment Workshop held by the Namibia Organic Association (NOA) and are supported by the Namibia Permaculture Community Association (NPCA).
Von Hase says the aim is to help home gardeners (mostly urban) grow their own food in an organic way, while using less water. That way they can lower their water consumption, improve food security and buffer against increasing food prices.
The young entrepreneur completed a Permaculture Design Course last year in Okahandja and has achieved his Masters of Science in Agro-ecology from the Swedish University of Agriculture. His thesis was on facilitating the uptake of conservation agriculture among communal farmers in Namibia.
In 2010 Von Hase was awarded his Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Botany by the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Prior to that he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Geographical Science and Zoology, from the same university in 2009.
He is now the owner and manager of Eco Living after managing the Garden Inspirations Nursery in Windhoek last year. He also acted as horticulturalist and gardener at Farm Krumhuk with oversight of herb and flower production and ornamental gardens.
Von Hase did his internship at the Farmer Support Project (Agribank/GIZ) in 2014 and did voluntary work on a horticultural farm in the Negev desert, Israel. He did his internship at the international department of the Organic Agriculture Association ‘Naturland‘, Munich, as well as an internship in Germany with the non-governmental organsisation (NGO) ‘Indigenous Livelihood Enhancement Partners‘, and worked on civic education of Maasai pastoralist communities in Kenya.
He also volunteered at the Vandana Shiva‘s horticultural farm ‘Navdanya‘, working with agricultural biodiversity conservation in India and acted as research assistant at the Institute for Natural Resources (INR) in South Africa, researching wetland buffer zones.
The Agricultural Training Centre Krumhuk (ATCK) is Namibia’s first training centre in agricultural production and farm household management that engages all faculties of young people, so that they can master the challenges of practical farming and household management.
It was established in response to the growing demand from the agricultural sector for young, passionate and self-motivated Namibians, trained and well equipped for living and working on the land.
The ACTK is the only agricultural institution in Namibia geared to offer vocational training (academic and practical) in various aspects of sustainable agriculture and farm household management that is both appropriate and relevant to the Namibian agricultural environment.
If anyone wants to support the programmes, the bank accounts are:
Namibia: Agricultural Training Centre, Bank Windhoek, Kudu Branch, Acc. No. 8001878961, Branch Code 482 172.
Germany: www.nawa-youth.de Konto Nr: 4047559600, BLZ: 430 609 67, GLS Gemeinschaftsbank