A NUMBER of residents of the Snyfontein settlement in the //Karas region are using their farming and gardening skills to improve lives in their community.
They formed and registered the Omkhaisen Dara Cooperative as part of their contribution to fight poverty.
Founded on 26 April 2016, the cooperative has 26 members, who contribute N$200 each annually.
The chairperson of the cooperative, Jan Kooper, said they want to achieve sustainable livelihoods and improve food security in the community.
“Our motto is alleviating poverty through self-sufficiency,” he said, adding that they sourced the money to register the cooperative through fundraising initiatives.
Kooper noted that the cooperative has revived a badly neglected community garden, where they now grow fruits and vegetables, as well as rear 50 goats received from the Berseba constituency office as part of its micro-financing programme.
The cooperative has received seeds from the ministry of agriculture, and work to expand the cooperative’s crop project is in progress.
“Our aim is to supply the whole of the Berseba constituency with fruit and vegetables,” Kooper enthused.
He added that the cooperative also recently approached Skorpion Zinc mine’s management to request for financial assistance to buy 100 sheep for the production of Swakara pelts.
“We want to expand our livestock farming business. We know there is potential in the Swakara pelts market,” said Kooper.
He also urged government to assist the cooperative’s members with financial and management training to run the cooperative better.
Kooper then used the opportunity to thank //Karas governor Lucia Basson for the assistance that the cooperative has received from her office, and the ministry of agriculture for having provided seed.
The settlement, tucked away near scenic rocky mountains some 35 kilometres outside Keetmanshoop, has about 1 000 residents, most of who are depending on government social grants and livestock farming.
