If you are business-minded, go for it. Do not sit idle, hoping that the government will provide a job.
Instead, use whatever you have at home and scale up as time goes by.
These are words of wisdom from Omwene-Tupopala Haitula, a 31-year-old unemployed university graduate who now runs a thriving poultry project.
Haitula runs a backyard poultry project at Lihaha village, just outside Mpungu-vlei in the Kavango West Region.
After obtaining his qualification in management taxation from the University of Namibia six years ago, Haitula did not land a job but never sat idle.
He ventured into farming for business under the flagship of his business, Tupo Namfood CC, something Haitula said he has at heart.
"We started off with dairy products and oil, and then in 2020, I diversified into poultry, which is now the current main project. As you can see here, we produce table eggs that we sell to our customers, and we recently started supplying them to ELCIN Nkurenkuru hospital. The project itself was founded before 2019 but only registered in 2019. I'm now a full-time poultry farmer, and we started at the beginning of the year."
Haitula entered the market when he saw the need for table eggs in his village and Mpungu-vlei, as they would always buy them in Nkurenkuru or Rundu.
Apart from selling eggs, there is also a market for matured layers, which are slaughtered when they reach twelve months, making room for productive ones and keeping the egg production process going.
Currently, there is one person employed on a full-time basis and two temporary workers who assist in slaughtering matured layers.
Last year, Haitula received support from the Ministry of Agriculture and participated in the SMEs Compete pitch programme where he won an incubator.
He also participated in the Old Mutual SEED initiative and won N $25,000, which he used to construct a new chicken house.
Haitula is facing challenges such as acquiring feeds and medications as they are sourced from Rundu or Windhoek.
A lack of electricity also prompted him to rent a place at Mpungu-vlei for his incubator.
"We do not have electricity here at home, so now I have to rent a place in Mpungu where I have to pay rent and electricity, and it's a bit far for me to go every day. It's too costly, so I think that is one of the challenges. I'll need a solar for my incubator to be brought home, so I can work from home and not travel to Mpungu every day."
The young visionary poultry farmer says he would like to expand his business to other regions.
He would also like to receive extensive mentorship and training in poultry farming to complement his existing self-taught knowledge and skills so that he can also train other aspiring poultry farmers.