As the prolonged drought persists in the Erongo Region, Daures Constituency Councillor Joram !Haoseb says agricultural activities have declined, as most communal farmers have abandoned farming and moved to urban centres in search of better living conditions.

!Haoseb said this during a joint briefing with the European Union Ambassador to Namibia and UNICEF at the Okombahe settlement.

!Haoseb pointed out that the severe drought has negatively affected households food security as there is a decline in communal livestock farming, amidst the non-existent crop farming activities due to water scarcity.

"The farmers cannot market their animals locally anymore because the auctioneer is attracted by numbers, and unfortunately we don't have numbers, which in return puts pressure on the farmers to market their animals outside their true constituency, for example, to Omaruru, which is about 90 kilometres from Okombahe and which is about 120 kilometres from Uis and other rural areas that are about 150 kilometres away." Crop farming is a nonstarter in the Daures constituency because of a lack of water. We stopped with crop farming a long time ago."

Although the government has introduced subsidised drought assistance incentives for farmers, !Haoseb says it is not enough.

"The government, through its drought relief programme is trying to address the issue of malnutrition for human beings, and the government is also trying to subsidise the farmers with fodder, but some farmers cannot afford even those subsidised prices from the government; besides, they don't have animals to market, and only after they market their animals can they get an income to assist the remaining ones."

In 2024, the directorate of rural water supply drilled boreholes, but all were dry, and Councillor !Haoseb now pins his hope on the desalination plant pipeline.

EU Ambassador to Namibia Ana Beatriz Martins says they have been monitoring the drought situation countrywide and supporting organisations as part of humanitarian efforts.

"We have made a contribution through our humanitarian office, just recently in December, to the Namibian Red Cross. It's all, I'm not saying drops on the hot stone but also on education; the challenges are so huge, and improving the resources, the training of educators, and rolling out the food and feeding programs to the children, the needy across the country, and particularly here in regions that are so hard hit by the lack of rain, are so huge. So it can only be a small contribution from our side."

The constituency is home to over 14,000 inhabitants in three major settlements, namely Uis, Omatjette, and Okombahe, and eight growth point villages.