A resident of Okafimbi village in Ombalantu, of the Omusati Region, Maria Titus, has turned to horticulture and poultry farming to earn a living after graduating with no job prospects.

Titus, a graduate in office administration from the DAPP Vocational Training Centre in the Omusati Region, says after failing to find formal employment, she turned to farming to sustain herself.

"I decided to start with poultry farming after struggling to get a job so that one day I can sustain myself. I then added a small vegetable garden to grow chicken feed, because I cannot afford to buy feed from the shops and I have no other source of income."

Titus further added that she farms mahangu and keeps chickens, guinea fowl, peacocks, turkeys, ducks and geese and uses an incubator to hatch eggs for her own birds while also assisting community members by hatching their eggs.

Titus says she faces challenges and launched the project to empower women but is now appealing for support after no one joined her.

"I face a lot of challenges because I'm working alone on the farm. I need help from my fellow women. The main reason I started this was as an initiative for women to work together, but no one joined me. I am just alone."

She also added that other challenges include transport to take her produce to market, water shortages when her pump that draws water from a canal breaks down, and her crops being affected. Despite the difficulties, Titus is appealing to other women in the area to work with her.