Deon Schlechter

WINDHOEK - Sixteen down and out farmers from Keetmanshoop, Grunau, Koes, Bethanie, Karasburg and Aroab in the South could not hide their relief and joy last Friday when the  lorry of Corrie Korf from Mariental arrived back from the Grootfontein area with a precious first load of 950 bales of lucerne and 100 bags of lucerne pills.

This is a donation by Feedmaster for the most severely affected farmers whose herds are getting wiped out by the drought. Farmer Zico Coetzee confirmed that he will transport 200 bales of hay from Grootfontein to Leonardville free of charge, while his father, Piet donated N$1 000 for diesel. One of the recipients of lucerne, Paulus Appolus, who farms in the Keetmanshop area, could not believe his eyes when the truck pulled up to offload his cargo.  He was overcome by joy and described the lucerne as a “gift from heaven.”

Henriëtte le Grange, who farms with her husband Lourens between Steinhausen and Summerdown, has become known as “the Mother Theresa of the South” with her relentless efforts over the past four years to bring relief to these sometimes forgotten farmers.  Le Grange says the first trip from Grootfontein to the South gulped up N$14 500 of diesel, which Korf also paid for. “Namibian fellow farmers once again proved that they are a one-of-a-kind breed by donating in cash or goods. But we need much, much more help for those poor farmers in the South. These farmers have been struggling for years with an incompetent sheep export scheme, and now their sheep prices have dropped dramatically at SA abattoirs. There have not seen proper rains in years and their farms look like the surface of the moon,” she notes.

“I have coordinated many of these missions since the drought of 2013, and I have witnessed scenes too terrible to describe. This year’s effort got off to a slow start as farmers  are struggling financially countrywide. But we managed to get the first load of fodder delivered and we won’t stop until we have made a difference. We have also opened a bank account where people can donate cash and we are looking for sponsors so that we can buy more fodder,” she explains The fund is known as the Namibia  Farmers’ Donation Fund, and the banking details are Bank Windhoek, Maerua Mall, branch code 483 872 and the account number is 8004586880.