Lahja Nashuuta
At the heart of Epukiro constituency in the Omaheke region’s Otjimanangombe, lies a thriving vegetable garden set up by a group of women who resisted relying solely on handouts from the government.
The garden, which is situated nearly 200km from Gam, is a source of food and income for the families that live in the impoverished village, Otjimanangombe.
The Otjimanangombe project is operated under the Otjimanangombe Women In Business Association (WIBA) and is the brainchild of 40 unemployed women, who were on their way home when the gardening idea popped up.
Narrating the project’s evolution, Elsie Mate told New Era that the vegetable garden was set up on a neglected plot of land behind the house of one of the group members.
While the garden is thriving, laying the foundation was not easy. Mate pointed out the lack of start-up capital as one of the major challenges the project had to deal with. She said to kick start the project, the members agreed that each contributes N$35 which was spent on sourcing seeds.
“Setting up the vegetable garden in 2019 was not a walk in the park, especially in an area where water scarcity is a serious issue.”
Mate reveals that at the beginning, the project used to rely on a 500 litre water tank which was not sufficient for the garden.
She pointed out gardening skills and proper fencing as some of the challenges they encountered for the past three years before MTC, and partners intervened.
“My village is known for small-scale farming, and not crop farming, hence the basic skills of vegetable gardening was an issue among the members, as we had no expertise on that,” Mate said.
MTC through its social intervention initiative, MTC Knockout Project assisted the women with gardening equipment valued at N$70 000.
Among the equipment donated include seeds, water tanks, fencing accessories, fertilisers, and fencing nets and poles.
The garden also became one of the beneficiaries of MTC’s WeRaceTogether edition.
“In 2022, the project (WeRaceTogether edition) raised an amount of N$1.4 million from various corporate pledges. The funds were to enable and encourage self-employment and promote food security through self production and sustenance,” said Erasmus Nekundi, MTC public relations officer.
He said the amount was split in two and shared between TVET graduates and community gardens.
“Today we are pleased to know that most of these beneficiaries have put the funds to good use, and in particular, seeing this beneficiary from Otjimanangombe running her community garden productively is exemplary and inspiring emulation,” said Nekundi.
With about 15 people currently working in the garden, it is now thriving with produce such as spinach, cabbages, potatoes, onions, beetroot, tomatoes, butternut, carrots, brinjal, and sweet potatoes as well as lucerne.
While some of the women are eager to generate an income from this initiative, most of what is harvested is consumed by their households.
Challenges
Mate said as the garden grows, water remains an issue that needs to be tackled.
“We currently have 5 000 and 10 000 litre tanks; however, it is not sufficient as they are the only source of water for the entire garden,” she said.
Mate revealed they are busy writing proposals to relevant authorities to seek assistance with the borehole.
Besides that, the women have been receiving training assistance from various institutions such as the gender ministry and Agribank on crop production, marketing, bookkeeping, and profit making.
She is however appealing to good Samaritans and corporate entities to assist them in setting up a borehole to make water accessible for the garden.