The late rains towards the end of March have left farmers doubting the survival of their farming enterprises.

On top of the late rains, farmers are unhappy with the rock-bottom prices they receive for their livestock at auctions. 

The nbc News team engaged some farmers in the communal areas of the region.

A seasonal farmer in the Epukiro Constituency, Charles Nguvauva, told nbc News team that this year started off badly as their earth dam was drying up. However, the area recently received close to 200 millimetres of rain.

The farmer added that the earth dam carries a significant impact as the cost of water for livestock has been a thorn in the flesh. 

With this rainwater, farmers are expecting to cut costs for a few months to come. 

Nguvauva also mentioned that poor rainfall patterns have a huge impact on livestock prices, something that affects farmers.

"Agriculture is the backbone of this country's economy. The livestock that we are producing and selling says a lot. Even here, we have employed a lot of people."

In the Otjinene Constituency at Orunarongue village, Ueriuka Tjitaura stressed that late rainfall will help livestock recover, something that might lead to farmers recording good prices later in the year at auctions.

The agriculturalist added that Orunarongue also has poor underground water, but now with good rainfall, this will assist them with venturing into crop production, given the poor livestock prices associated with the drought spell they went through as a region.

"Livestock prices are not too bad, but they are not the normal prices we used to have a few months ago. I attended one auction where prices were really poor, but now they are showing some signs of recovery."

Another farmer, Otniel Kavari, remains optimistic that late rainfall will aid them with restocking, and they will also not migrate to other areas in search of livestock pastures.

"We went through some tough times as it has been raining and then it went dry, something that has affected our grazing. If it could not have come in this abundance, we would not have survived at all, and even everyone now is thinking that you won't be forced to relocate livestock."

With recent late rainfall recorded in the Omaheke, the numbers of livestock at auction started to reduce.

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NBC Digital News

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Ngarije Kavari