Resettled farmers in Boomlager, Okorukambe Constituency, are grappling with a severe water shortage after their borehole dried up years ago. Residents are forced to travel long distances to fetch water from nearby farms.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Capricorn Foundation, and the University of Namibia (UNAM) have teamed up to help farmers turn their crops into valuable products.
Agribank has extended N$22.8 million to farmers in the northern regions in this current financial year.
Of this amount, N$6.9 million is allocated to the Oshana Region.
The Office of the Omaheke Governor and some local farmers are working together to supply a soup kitchen at Gobabis with milk three times a day.
The soup kitchen feeds vulnerable children, and the supply of milk will help to curb malnutrition.
Sesfontein Constituency Councillor and Chairperson of the Kunene Regional Council, Hendrik Gaobaeb, has urged farmers in his constituency to sell their cattle in a bid to mitigate the losses they currently experience as a result of the severe drought.
The late rains towards the end of March have left farmers doubting the survival of their farming enterprises.
On top of the late rains, farmers are unhappy with the rock-bottom prices they receive for their livestock at auctions.
Eight farmers from Gobabis were arrested for trespassing at Farm Witsand in the district of Witvlei.
The group moved into Farm Witsand on Saturday, which belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, with their livestock and other belongings.
Kunene Governor Marius Sheya says the government's drought mitigation programme has been a relief to the farmers.
Sheya was speaking at the handover of livestock, stoves, and water-softening borehole technologies at Khorixas auction kraal in the Kunene Region.
To date, the Omaheke Region has recorded below 100 mm of rainfall; hence, the farming communities, through the Office of the Governor, proposed that virgin lands be found with new boreholes.
Farmers at the Hardap Irrigation Scheme are worried about the critically low levels of the Hardap Dam due to poor rainfall in the area.
They say if the dry conditions continue, it may have an adverse impact on the irrigation scheme that relies on water for production.
