Villagers add value to wild fruits

THE Ongwediva Rural Development Centre (ORDC) recently trained 29 rural community members how to add value to monkey oranges and mutete to boost economic activities and create jobs to earn a living.

The senior community liaison officer at ORDC, Nico Aipumbu, told last Friday that monkey oranges and mutate, a wild vegetable, are found in abundance in the Oshikunde constituency and the centre thought it a good idea to train women how to make jam, tea and juice from them.

He said the training workshop was held on 24 November 2020 at Oshinambwili centre with 24 women and five men.

“The training was well received by the people who see a lot of this fruit going to waste,” said Aipumbu.

He said this would help boost the economic activities of the people.

Aipumbu said the centre’s community outreach and marketing section is tasked with seeking opportunities for economic development in rural communities.

“If people in rural areas are trained to add value to indigenous underutilised fruits and vegetables, they are not only being empowered to earn a living, but most importantly, they can be able to preserve food for longer periods,” said Aipumbu.

He said the trainees are expected to pass on the knowledge they acquired to other members of the community.

The workshop was conducted by ORDC staff members Bilha Iipumbu and Petrina Kapolo.

According to ORDC’s November 2020 progress report, the course was to equip rural communities with knowledge on preserving perishable seasonal indigenous products.

Aipumbu said the centre is also training farmers to make an organic fertiliser called vermin compost, using cow dung and worms.

The worms feed on cow dung and break it into organic vermin compost. The centre provides the worms to farmers.

“This natural compost is organic and although it is not enough to use on a larger garden, it is better than artificial fertiliser as it does not damage the soil,” he said.

Established in the late 1980s, the ORDC caters for Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena regions. The centre has three focus areas ,namely: hospitality, appropriate technology and community development.

Rural development centres fall under the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development.