Relief for Olushandja farmers
Production is back in full swing at Olushandja and farmers are delivering their produce at Ongwediva.
Crop farmers at the Olushandja Dam in the Omusati Region, who were forced to cease their operations last year following a decision by NamWater to pump out water from the dam to supply its Oshakati purification plant, are once again pushing ahead with production following good rainfall.
The Agro-Marketing and Trading Agency (AMTA) at the Ongwediva fresh produce hub has confirmed the farmers have started to stock their trading space.
A member of Olushandja Horticulture Producers Association (OHPA), Tangeni Negonga, said the farmers are forging ahead after experiencing a dry season from the end of last year.
He said the area received good rainfall that assisted with the refilling of the Olushandja Dam and NamWater had also pumped water in from the Calueque Dam in southern Angola, via the Calueque-Oshakati canal.
Olushandja has 68 farmers, who employ over 2 000 farmworkers. The farmers supply their produce to AMTA at the Ongwediva fresh produce hub and also send their produce to the Olushandja Horticultural Marketing Centre at Epalela.
“We are picking up (production) and many farmers have started producing. Thank God we received good rainfall and we are hoping this water will assist us in the long-run,” Negonga said.
OHPA chairperson Paulus Amutenya said it will take time for the farmers to recover after last year's shortfall.
He said they have just started cultivating and cannot predict what harvest they will reap.
The 17km-long and 2km-wide Olushandja Dam serves as reservoir to store water for emergency usage for the national water utility.
According to Negonga, who has been growing vegetables at the Olushandja Dam since 1998, the situation has become unbearable. He said business had been good until 2015, when NamWater stopped pumping water into the dam and they started depending on rainwater.
“Production started decreasing as the water quality became bad for the produce. We started reducing production fields and later we started retrenching workers. Things are not good for us at all,” Negonga said.
NamWater spokesperson Johannes Shigwedha told Namibian Sun yesterday the dam is currently 26% full and they are continuing to pump in water.
Last year Shigwedha confirmed that NamWater had reduced pumping water into the dam three years ago, because of rehabilitation work being carried out at Calueque.
The Calueque-Oshakati canal of approximately 150km supplies northern Namibia with water for irrigation and drinking purposes.
Toward the end of last year, NamWater did not have enough water and they had use water from the Olushandja Dam to supply the Oshakati purification plant.
The AMTA's regional manager for the Ongwediva fresh produce hub, Jacob Hamutenya, said there is a significant improvement in terms of the OHPA selling space at the hub.
“There is an improvement in terms of the produce by the Olushandja farmers. We have observed they have started supplying a few vegetables; it's only that the harvesting is not yet in full swing,” Hamutenya said.
ILENI NANDJATO
The Agro-Marketing and Trading Agency (AMTA) at the Ongwediva fresh produce hub has confirmed the farmers have started to stock their trading space.
A member of Olushandja Horticulture Producers Association (OHPA), Tangeni Negonga, said the farmers are forging ahead after experiencing a dry season from the end of last year.
He said the area received good rainfall that assisted with the refilling of the Olushandja Dam and NamWater had also pumped water in from the Calueque Dam in southern Angola, via the Calueque-Oshakati canal.
Olushandja has 68 farmers, who employ over 2 000 farmworkers. The farmers supply their produce to AMTA at the Ongwediva fresh produce hub and also send their produce to the Olushandja Horticultural Marketing Centre at Epalela.
“We are picking up (production) and many farmers have started producing. Thank God we received good rainfall and we are hoping this water will assist us in the long-run,” Negonga said.
OHPA chairperson Paulus Amutenya said it will take time for the farmers to recover after last year's shortfall.
He said they have just started cultivating and cannot predict what harvest they will reap.
The 17km-long and 2km-wide Olushandja Dam serves as reservoir to store water for emergency usage for the national water utility.
According to Negonga, who has been growing vegetables at the Olushandja Dam since 1998, the situation has become unbearable. He said business had been good until 2015, when NamWater stopped pumping water into the dam and they started depending on rainwater.
“Production started decreasing as the water quality became bad for the produce. We started reducing production fields and later we started retrenching workers. Things are not good for us at all,” Negonga said.
NamWater spokesperson Johannes Shigwedha told Namibian Sun yesterday the dam is currently 26% full and they are continuing to pump in water.
Last year Shigwedha confirmed that NamWater had reduced pumping water into the dam three years ago, because of rehabilitation work being carried out at Calueque.
The Calueque-Oshakati canal of approximately 150km supplies northern Namibia with water for irrigation and drinking purposes.
Toward the end of last year, NamWater did not have enough water and they had use water from the Olushandja Dam to supply the Oshakati purification plant.
The AMTA's regional manager for the Ongwediva fresh produce hub, Jacob Hamutenya, said there is a significant improvement in terms of the OHPA selling space at the hub.
“There is an improvement in terms of the produce by the Olushandja farmers. We have observed they have started supplying a few vegetables; it's only that the harvesting is not yet in full swing,” Hamutenya said.
ILENI NANDJATO
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