Harvest time in northern Namibia

MANY communal farmers in northern Namibia are harvesting their mahangu crop that is now dry enough for harvest.

With the good rains received in many areas of the north this year, many communal farmers say their mahangu fields delivered good yields and they are grateful.

“We thank God for the good rains this year. We had a good harvest from our mahangu fields,” said Eino Amutenya, a resident of Otuwala village (three kilometres west of Oshakati) in Oshakati West constituency of Oshana region.

Amutenya said although many of the flood plains (oshanas) in their area are now drying up, they are happy with the amount of fish and frogs they caught this year.

“Tomorrow will be my last day to go fishing because the oshana is drying up. Much of the water in which I used to catch a lot of fish is now muddy,” said Dorthea Erasmus, a young woman from Oniimwandi village in Oshana region, near Otuwala.

Since the end of March, Erasmus has been fishing in a nearby flood-plain between the villages.

The fish she caught was for domestic consumption and for sale, mainly at the Oshakati open market.

“This year’s mahangu crop has been good. We harvested a lot from our fields,” said Petrus Asenane, also from Oniimwandi, last week.

Asenane, who was harvesting his mahangu field with his wife and daughter-in-law, said the good rainfall this year had also improved pasture in the grazing areas.

Although oshanas are drying up, swamps, wells and other bodies still have water, which villagers believe will last them until the next rainy season.

Oshanas, an interconnected system of shallow water courses making the trans-boundary Cuvelai-Etosha-basin of Namibia and Angola.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.