Namibia: Urban Gardening Helps Fight Hunger And Malnutrition In Windhoek’s Goreangab
The ripple effect of Auguste Kankondi’s community outreach is already visible even as she continues giving out advice and encouragement to budding urban farmers in Goreangab.
Guest Contributor
Namibia Economist
Jan 21, 2022 |
Excerpt:
When I started at farm Okukuna, I knew only a few things about farming because we used to grow Mahangu (Millet) back home in Okahao. But I did not know much about growing vegetables or herbs. Farm Okukuna gave us training on making organic compost and how to grow different types of vegetables in winter and summer.’
Urban agriculture is not a novel concept. It has been established as one of the measures to help the poor and vulnerable people in urban areas cope with food scarcity and hunger by growing crops in their backyards. Urban gardening, or “urban agriculture” or “urban farming,” is an umbrella term for the process of growing crops and plants of all types and varieties in an urban or peri-urban environment.
‘’I became excited as I was getting training at farm Okukuna. I started practising what I had learned with the small space in my house in the Goreangab location. I started very small, but I started slowly expanding and expanding my garden to the front side of the house. I have succeeded in growing spinach, beetroot, carrots, and herbs to feed my four children aged between 19 and 4 years old. I even harvested enough vegetables to sell to some of my neighbours at a low price.’
The pandemic also presented further problems with the reduction in employment and loss of incomes to the informal sectors resulting in adverse effects on the purchasing power of the poor and vulnerable people in communities like Goreangab.
‘More of my neighbours started to ask me to show them, so I decided to visit them to help them find the right space in her yard with enough natural light and shade to start her garden.’
