≠Eseb Wheat: The Pride of Okambahe

According to the Damaras of Okambahe, they have for centuries reaped their staple diet, wheat, from the bed of the Omaruru River, calling it the ‘≠Eseb River’ in that part of the world.

Driving to Okambahe village across a concrete intersect over the thick sand of the ≠Eseb River, this time of the year, one will notice the lush green and golden shine of bank-to-bank wheat fields, neatly organised and fenced in with old tree branches and wire.At closer inspection, several women would be sitting under large shaded trees, breaking off wheat-ears from the stems; while others are hunched and hidden in the high grass, cutting the stem-bases with scissors and knives – a ‘primitive’ way of harvesting.Later, the broken-off ears will be thrown onto the hard clay surface of a small threshing floor where a donkey will stamp out the wheat kernels before winnowers clean out the chaff from the desired fruit – the kernels of the ≠Eseb Wheat – ‘the pride of Okambahe’, according to the agricultural consultant for Okambahe’s Mutago Wheat Project, Godfried /Keib.This year the project comprises of about 15 hectares of wheat, and harvest time has arrived. And although about 60 people – most of them women – of the community are directly involved in the project, the yield benefits the entire community of Okambahe, and the rest of the !Oë ≠Gân Traditional Authority.’We are still producing mainly for household consumption, although some of the wheat does also make it to other parts of the region,’ /Keib explained. ‘If it comes to food production, I would say we are self-sustainable, but we would also like to enjoy a wider market for our wheat.’The greatest success of the wheat is the natural, clean and nutritious upper-ground water flow of the river.’There’s no need for irrigation. Once the seed is sowed, we don’t have to worry anymore. We just wait until it is ready and then we go down to harvest, and produce the flour,’ he explained. ‘The water from the river is clean and healthy; not contaminated with sewage or chemicals. All we use is kraal dung. We don’t want to use chemicals since the water-table here is high, and we don’t want to contaminate it. The product we have is naturally natural.’Sowing is done in May to July; and by October it is harvest time. The whole process is usually completed outside the rainy season, according to /Keib, and so there is no real risk of the fields being destroyed by the flooding river./Keib said the ‘traditional’ ways are becoming cumbersome though, due to a lack of knowledge, and in light of the need to grow more and broaden the scope of the market.’The old generation is fading and there is not enough transfer of knowledge to the new generations. The new generation is not as skilled to plough and plant, harvest and process the product the way the old people used to. We need training in this field, and we need better equipment,’ /Keib said. ‘We are looking for a good Samaritan to help us.’He said there was especially a need for a threshing machine and a mechanical mill.’Everything is still done by hand, and then we have to use a donkey too, to tread out the kernels, before we winnow the chaff and hand-grind to flour for bread and other products,’ he said. ‘It’s a very cumbersome process.’Apparently wheat is being grown in several regions of Namibia, with the biggest fields being Kavango, according to /Keib.As for communal land, Okambahe is one of the biggest,’ he said proudly. ‘And as we get more seed, we’ll also increase the hectares of the harvest-yield and so also our chances of marketing our pride; our ‘≠Eseb Wheat’, to the rest of Namibia.’