Relief and hope: Farmers grapple with rainfall amid Namibia’s worst drought in a century

While recent rains have brought some farmers joy, others have been left concerned about the current ploughing season following the country’s worst drought in 100 years.

Hendrik Steenkamp, a farmer in the //Kharas region, thanks God for recent good rains.

“My family and I have gone through two consecutive droughts, and it can cause trauma, fear and poverty. Poverty in turn causes more trauma due to countless worries,” he says.

Steenkamp says when the first rains fell they were hoping it would continue.

“Two days later we started seeing the clouds and wanted to start praying again, but then we felt God is saying ‘I’ve got this. You can rest now. I will cause it to rain. Just enter my rest.’,” he says.

Over the next two days the area received 46mm and 36mm respectively, Steenkamp says.

“In a week’s time God turned the drought into a green valley for us. The trees are green, the shrubs are green, and you can see new grass springing up in the field.”

FOOD AND WATER

Jostofine Garises from Koës in the //Kharas region says the rain has brought renewed hope.

“There is food now for our animals and water for our plants. People were enduring water shortages,” she says.

Berseba constituency councillor Johannes Goeieman says many farmers have lost their livestock and livelihoods over the past eight years. He hopes the recent rains are just the beginning, he says.

“Our farmers do not have livestock any more. People whom you knew had 200 to 300 small livestock have fewer than 30. They’ve become subsistence farmers. Perhaps they will be able to rebuild,” he says.

SILOS STILL EMPTY

Communal farmers in the northern regions say they are breathing a sigh of relief.

Natangwe Sheya (63), a resident of Akuna village in the Oshana region, says the much-needed rains have begun to rejuvenate pasture for those cattle and goats that survived the long dry spell.

“We are happy with the rains, because we will no longer trek long distances in search of water for our livestock to drink. However, we are still reeling from the effects of drought. Our mahangu silos are still empty. We do not have food supplies.

“We are hoping for a good harvest this year, but we are thankful to God for the rain,” he says.

“It will take some time for us to be able to get food for ourselves, and our animals will take time to grow healthy and produce milk and cows. We are hoping to receive more rainfall so that our crops would yield a good harvest,” he says.

‘GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY’

Okongo constituency councillor Lebeus Shipindo says this year’s rainfall seems promising.

“We have received quite good rainfall this side, and many people started ploughing their fields in December. I want all the farmers to reinforce sustainable mechanisms to improve their crop yields this year. Now is the season to get our hands dirty and plough our fields,” he says.

Another farmer, Lotokeni Aipinge at Outapi, says the area has not received significant rainfall yet.

“We have received rain, but we cannot compare it to other parts of the country that received good rainfall. Some people in our area have not ploughed their fields yet, because it is still dry.”

Aipinge says they remain hopeful, however.

“Many households are still battling hunger because they did not harvest anything last year,” she says.

Mungongi Agriculture project founder Steven Mungongi says the rains have been good, and because of this farmers are busy ploughing at Musese in the Kavango West region.

“Farming is in full swing. In some parts of the region where the rains have been adequate, almost all the subsistence farmers are busy in their fields,” he says.

‘NEVER ENOUGH’

Rusuvero Kaitjirokere, a farmer at Gobabis in the Epukiro constituency, says the drought has been severe for the past seven years.

“We never get enough rain – the way we used to get it. With the drought, you can see it’s raining, but we’re still carrying drought food to the cattle,” he says.

Kaitjirokere calls on the government to open their eyes to the struggles farmers face during droughts.

“The economy comes from the cattle as well. Children, schools, everything we pay with the cattle. We are asking our president or whoever is there to rethink things in the Omaheke region,” he pleads.