WINDHOEK – The Namibian Organic Association recently spearheaded the hosting of a series of conferences on sustainable, ecological crop and horticulture production for Namibian producers, supported by the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.
Julia Nambili of AgriBusDev gave an overview of the existing footprint of the Green Scheme Programme run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry and which encourages the development of irrigation-based agronomic production in Namibia with the aim of increasing food production and contributing to food self-sufficiency and national food security. Lungameni Lucas of the Agricultural Marketing and Trade Association (AMTA) spoke to delegates about the role and future activities of AMTA in the agricultural sector in Namibia. The Okahandja conference that took place on August 08 and 09 was aimed at large-scale producers, while the conference held in Rundu on August 13 to 14 was developed specifically for small-scale producers. The focus at both conferences was building resilient farms by concentrating on using sustainable methods to enhance soil quality in order to produces greater crop yields. “Organic agriculture makes farms and people more resilient to climate change, mainly due to its water efficiency, resilience to extreme weather events and lower risk of complete crop failure. Organic agriculture builds up soil instead of fostering land degradation and therefore contributes to global food security,” says Manjo Smith, chairperson of the Namibian Organic Association. “In dry climatic conditions this is important because it means that we don’t need to irrigate too frequently, but we can still be productive, and are therefore also less vulnerable if the rainfall is not sufficient. Also, the soil helps to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, and microorganisms in a living soil will help with pest and disease control,” she said. An organic farmer in Okahandja, Smith is the driver behind the conferences and serves as a World Board Member on the International Federation of Organic and Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). This particular portfolio gave her access to some of the world’s leading experts in sustainable, ecological and organic agriculture practice and soil health.
Andre Leu, President of IFOAM and organic farmer in Australia for the past 22 years, shared his experiences of farming organically with large-scale commercial producers.
Delegates to the Okahandja conference had the privilege of being addressed by Volkert Engelsman, founder and CEO of Eosta in Holland, advocate of organic and sustainable farming practice and leading distributor of organic fresh produce in Europe. Speaking from a marketer and consumer of organic produce perspective, Engelsman emphasised the continued and consistent demand for organic products in Europe.
Contextualising the fragility of soil systems, Mike Prevost of Elgin Organics in the Western Cape said in his presentation: “In a teaspoon of soil, there are billions of microorganisms. In healthy organic soils, there are always good guys and bad guys and if you manage the soil properly, the good guys will always win.”
Dr Irene Kadzere of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture or Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau (FiBL) in Switzerland, presented the findings of research conducted on different crops grown organically and conventionally from around the world, comparing different farming practices, including crop rotation, soil health and crop yields.
Tobias Bandel from the organisation Soil and More in Holland, carried out a demonstration for large-scale producers on how to make their own compost. The demonstration took place at Greenfields in Okahanjda and delegates enthusiastically participated in compost making. The small-scale producers also learnt from experts on how to they can improve their farming practices from conservation agriculture specialist, Max Simfukwe.
Currently many small-scale farmers still practise highly destructive and unsustainable farming methods such as residue burning and ploughing. The Rundu delegates were also offered presentations on the importance of record-keeping of planting, crop rotation, yields per hectare, cost of production, as well as the consistent supply of fresh produce to traders.
Patrick Hilger, farming mentor in the Kavango Region, and Elaine Smith of the Farmer Support Programme attached to AgriBank both felt that exposing small-scale farmers to sustainable farming practice was a positive move. The compost demonstration for small-scale farmers was done by Robsen Nyirenda, from the Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre in Zambia. For many participants, compost making was new, while for others it was an already familiar practice.
By Deon Schlechter