Kae MaÞunÿu-Tjiparuro
Omauezonjanda-The 24th Epukiro Agricultural Show under the auspices of the Eastern Epukiro Farmers Association, this time around under the new captainship of Katjinduu Tjahuha, was once again a spectre of quality animals, both large and small livestock as the constituency has over the years come to be known for.
The Marengas, Nambarus, Murangi and others once again formed the who’s who of animal exhibitors at the show. However in a layman’s view as per some of the attendants the show this year attracted less animals than the last few years. Nor seemed the attendance impressive although the constituency is not one of the most populous in the Omaheke Region with only 3,824 registered voters as per the 2015 election figures, the lowest of the seven constituencies in Omaheke.
One explanation for the seemingly low attendance was the show coinciding with the annual show of Aminuis, which took place at the same time on September 1-2.
Not to mention the football and netball tournament over the same weekend at the next village of Okovimburu, which may explain the conspicuous absence of young people at the show.
But in terms of the quality of the animals, there’s little anyone can take away, with the constituency boasting a good number of top breeders across board in terms of the various types of breeds.
The number of exhibitors, especially corporate ones, also left much to be desired as much as exhibitors from government departments and agencies with a few small and medium enterprise (SME) local exhibitors selling all kinds of products, most of which cannot be said to be indigenous to the constituency in terms of being made from whatever raw materials the constituency offers.
Of course any show would not be a show without kapana and there was a good sprinkling of kapana sellers if they did not dominate this sector, among them of the Ovambanderu Traditional Authority (OTA).
One of those with a notable presence at the show was a local businessperson, Charles Tjiueza of VSV 91 cc trading as Sure Foods, a company that provides animal licks locally, who sponsored the show to the tune of N$30,000.
Sure Foods is now in a joint venture with the South African-based company Nutri Foods to provide animal licks.
Among the notable licks is one preventing an animal from dying once it has eaten a poisonous plant. Besides licks, Sure Nutrition provides lucerne which the company grows on a piece of land in the south.