OMAKENGE – Despite this years’ countrywide drought, some individuals have gone an extra mile to generate income and to feed their families from small backyard gardens rather than wait for the government to supply them with food through the drought relief emergency programme.
Small garden farmers in the Omakange area in Omusati Region who run small gardens in their backyards to feed their families and to earn a little income, demonstrate this.
One such small farmer is Eliaser Johannes a resident of Omakange who started a small vegetable garden behind his house with the mere purpose of feeding his family two years ago.
The garden that was aimed at feeding a family of four currently benefits neighbours with whom he shares his harvest. Johannes applauds the government for the completion of the Omakange road because it has attracted people to visit and buy from their gardens. He added that besides the daily food consumption, the garden has also managed to secure a small income from the produce that he sells to the people passing by who are either en route to Opuwo or Oshakati and neighbouring villages.
He acknowledged that the garden has been beneficial to the family not only in providing him and his family with food but also earning him an income.
“I get manure from the nearby farms to supplement the soil for a better harvest; gardening has really helped me because I do not need to buy vegetables from the shops anymore,” said Andreas
Another such small gardener is Ivondia Kandi who started gardening in 2002. Kandi said that she feeds her family of twelve from her backyard garden and like Johannes she also makes a little income from the produce that she sells to the community as well as the people passing by.
The gardeners however expressed the view that since they do not have the necessary skills to run a professional garden they are challenged by pesticides and birds that come to feed on their produce. The biggest challenge, however, is water because there is only one borehole in Omakange that supplies water to the whole community, thus bigger water tank pipes will boost the business further.
Kandi is hopeful that they will get a bigger water tank for the community. Kandi added that she wants to grow her vegetable business and start “farming with chickens” in the near future, so that she earns an income to sustain her family.
The small farmers grow cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, spinach, beetroots and maize meal.