The Omaludi Agricultural Festival in Okongo, Ohangwena region, started today.

The event is scheduled to be opened by its patron, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, on Wednesday.

"This is the Okongo airstrip, where the Omaludi Festival is set to take place. In Oshiwambo culture, Omaludi is a traditional celebration where communities come together to appreciate and reward cattle herders for their hard work in keeping livestock healthy and strong, even in difficult conditions," narrates nbc reporter Martha Mwafangeyo.

What began as a cultural gathering to celebrate heritage, traditional food, music, and indigenous drinks has now become an important annual event that reminds people where they come from and why culture matters.

Nowadays, people are rapidly leaning towards modernisation and digital lifestyles; many young people are slowly drifting away from their roots.

Traditional languages are spoken less, ancient customs are forgotten and valuable stories once told around evening fires are fading with time.

Yet festivals like Omaludi continue to resist that silence.

Okongo Village Councils CEO, Jackson Muma, says the festival is normally characterised by subsistence farmers showing off their animals and competing about which herds are well fed.

"This is a boost in terms of livestock farming; it's a boost to the economy and a boost to the morale of those that take care of the herds."

Apart from celebrating culture and tradition, the festival is also expected to bring short-term economic relief to residents of Okongo.

Muma revealed that there will be financial prizes to be won by herders and residents who have also been given temporary employment opportunities during the six-day event.

Instead of outsourcing services such as cleaning, maintenance and other logistical arrangements from external companies, the council opted to hire people from the local community to carry out various duties throughout the festive period.