Emilie Naunyango, a full-time communal crop farmer and owner of the Nande Vegetable Project is an enthusiastic agribusiness woman who farms in the northern region of Omusati. She acquired an Emerging Retail Financing Product (ERFP) loan scheme with Agribank in 2021 and procured a ripper, disc plough, and drip irrigation piping equipment to expand her crop enterprise.
The ERFP loan scheme promotes inclusive financing by catering to full-time communal farmers without salaried income or collateral. She currently plants a variety of vegetables including cabbage, sweet potatoes, green pepper, chilli pepper, spinach, carrots, butternut, sweet potato, watermelon as well as maize. Naunyango also has a few goats and pigs to complement her crop enterprise.
As part of the ERFP loan product package, she also joined the Agribank mentorship programme in 2021. Naunyango reflected on how her mentor has assisted her with advice on crop rotation practices, identifying pests and diseases, record keeping, financial management, and managing her workers.
She said she noticed an improvement in the attitude and skills of her labour force because of the mentorship programme. She currently has a workforce of seven workers on her farm of which two are casual workers. Moreover, she keeps records of her land preparation, planting, and harvesting dates for each crop as well as income and expenses.
Naunyango, being an avid businesswoman, has secured markets for her produce and currently supplies produce to Choppies supermarket, AMTA, FreshCo, catering establishments, open markets, and the local community.
However, despite such significant strides, Naunyango has experienced challenges with pests such as tuta absoluta, mildew, and frost, as well as the high cost of fuel, fertiliser, and pesticides. She continuously works hard to overcome these obstacles and plans to expand her enterprise, by extending her garden, adding value by sorting, and packaging her produce.
Her ultimate goal is to supply more retailers and export her produce in future. She also plans to finish paying off her loan with Agribank and purchase a hammermill to embark on fodder production for her animals and those of neighbouring farmers.
-AgriBank