Organic Food Jam at Farm Krumhuk next week

The Namibian Organic Association (NOA) in collaboration with the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) will host the Organic Food Jam next week.

NOA chairperson and NNF coordinator and technical adviser Marieke Voigts says the event will be held on 9 July at Farm Krumhuk, located close to Windhoek.

The Organic Food Jam builds on the first successful event, held in March last year, says Voigts. It aims to engage the public on the health and environmental benefits of organic agriculture to deepen people’s knowledge of sustainable farming, particularly in relation to food security and climate change adaptation.

This year’s event will focus on organic livestock production, as well as the role of the media in the policy sphere, says Voigts.

“It will incorporate interactive elements and engaging learning experiences with a deeper exploration of organic agricultural practices and the principles of eco-ecology.”

Earlier this year, Voigts told The Namibian public awareness of the health and environmental benefits of organic food is growing in Namibia but the availability of certified organic produce still leaves much to be desired.

Voigts is the owner of Farm Krumhuk, which is a certified large-scale organic farm. It is one of the first organic farms in Namibia, dating back to the early 1990s.

Organic produce does not contain chemicals that can be harmful to human health and the environment. Voigts says conventional agricultural practices are very harmful to the environment through the use of chemical fertilisers, which depletes the soil.

Organic agriculture entails mainly enhancing the soil to provide the necessary nutrients through crop rotation, covering the soil with mulching and producing compost.

In recent years, Farm Krumhuk has embraced the production and application of biochar to enhance soil fertility. Biochar is solid material that is produced by carbonising biomass under the limited supply or absence of oxygen. The production process resembles that of making regular charcoal. Applying biochar to the soil offers a solution for countering climate change globally.