The Otjinene Community has been recording an influx of people searching for opportunities.

They, however, end up in squatter camps with no jobs and sufficient food, where community gardens would be the only solution.

Otjinene Councillor Erwin Katjizeu says most of the households in the constituency depend on government handouts.

He said the situation has become dire owing to migration, and children are the ones suffering the most.

Katjizeu is now calling on the 'haves' to work out modalities to address the situation, citing the setting up of community gardens through an established committee.

"As a constituency office, we cannot only depend on the government. We have decided through our constituency office that we should set up big gardens so that people who are in need of food can work in them and also provide them with all the necessary equipment so that they can have their own garden up and running so that they can start producing their own food. At least through that, we can minimise the situations that we are facing at this moment and time. As you are looking at the sky, it shows no clouds; it shows that drought is going to hit us again this year."

Katjizeu added that the envisaged garden project will start early next year.

To date, the regional council office has registered more than 1,000 households on the outskirts of Otjinene that are in dire need of food aid.