By Tuulikki Abraham
LüDERITZ – Eli Shiyagaya-Ihalu is the coordinator of the Oukumwe mushroom project that was established in 2012 by the Oukumwe support group involving Seaflower White Fish Company workers.
Through this project enlisted group members get training on how to plant and cook mushrooms.
Peter Haoseb from Otjiwarongo conducted the course that taught them how to grow and harvest mushrooms.
“The five-day training was sponsored by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with an amount of N$290 000, which included the equipment that we use, training costs and renovations to the mushroom house situated in town,” Shiyagaya-Ihalu said in an interview.
“We began to harvest mushrooms from this project last year, but we are not satisfied with the harvest of only 400 grams of mushrooms every month,” she said, adding: “It takes about six weeks to harvest these mushrooms. Out biggest supporters who buy these mushrooms are Spar and our members because they know the nutritional benefits.”
She says the project needs a cash injection because growing mushrooms on a commercial scale requires money as mushrooms use a lot of water.
Its objective is to empower trainees on how they could become self-reliant using the newly acquired knowledge.
The project wants trainees in mushroom farming to be independent and engage in small-scale mushroom gardens – so that they sustain themselves and sell some mushrooms to generate funds for the project.
“Oyster mushrooms is good for the immune system and I believe that if this mushroom project grows and gives a good harvest, it will help our community by boosting their immune system, especially those infected with HIV/AIDS,” said Shiyagaya-Ihalu.
Aina Iita takes care of the mushrooms on a day-to-day basis but during weekends members of the support group take part in the activities of the project since they work at Seaflower and cannot be at the project full-time during the week.
“This mushroom project began to harvest last year, but we are not satisfied with the harvest due to the lack of funds, because for us to run this project we need to use a lot water and electricity. In order to get a good harvest, we need large amounts of water since mushrooms mainly grow in wet places and the fans that keeps the room where the mushrooms are kept has to be on during the day and also at night to keep the room cool, ” said Shiyagaya-Ihalu
She further indicated that the grass which they use to prepare seeds to plant the mushrooms is bought from Mariental, and emphasized how sensitive and delicate this mushrooms are, so one has to prevent them from getting rotten.
“This project is certainly not growing fast but we are trying our utmost best to grow it. We are in touch with the ministry of agriculture for it to provide us with advanced modern training,” said Shiyagaya -Ihalu.
“Our biggest challenge is a lack of money but, if we do get assistance and sponsorship this mushroom project will grow and benefit a lot of people in our community,” she told a New Era correspondent.