Youth-led agricultural projects have the potential to strengthen Namibia's food self-sufficiency while creating economic opportunities for young people in rural communities.

This is according to Maria Kautondokwa, a foreman at the Namibia Youth Service's Omauni Agricultural Production Centre in the Okongo Constituency of the Ohangwena Region.

She made these remarks at the time when dispatching 41 tonnes of Mahangu to Government Silos at the Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency (AMTA) centre at Okongo.

The centre has now sold 41 tonnes of mahangu to the government through AMTA. 

The latest harvest marks a major improvement for the youth-led project, which produced only 11 tonnes of mahangu during the previous season.

Despite prolonged dry spells, pests and other challenges, the young farmers' persistence and hard work have resulted in a substantially higher yield.

"This year's harvest was better, even though we experienced pests during germination, but we continued so we can say the yield was better."

For the 2025/26 production season, the centre planted 100 hectares of mahangu.

Agricultural operations at the centre began in 2009, with mahangu and sunflower production, before the facility was officially handed over to the Namibia Youth Service in 2010.

The Omauni Agricultural Production Centre covers approximately 150 hectares and primarily produces mahangu under rain-fed conditions.