More and more vulnerable youth in Namibia are embracing urban farming as food insecurity rises. Soweriano Fredericks is one of the youth beneficiaries of Namibia’s BBB Urban agriculture project at Farm Daweb- Hardap Region. Soweriano is determined to nurture his green fingers into a sustainable livelihood and to make a profitable and sustainable career choice through agriculture.
Farm Daweb is the Hardap region’s project site for the Build Back Better (BBB) urban agriculture project. This urban agriculture project is the brainchild of a multi-stakeholder partnership established by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform and funded by the Government of Japan.
Poverty and food insecurity have been soaring in the Hardap region, propelled by a prevalent drought and a massive urban-rural population drift. The COVID 19 pandemic has also presented further challenges with the loss of incomes and heightened unemployment. The 25-year-old Maltahöhe youth knows the grim reality very well, and not so long ago, he too was at rock bottom.
“Even before the pandemic, we have faced the crisis of drought and malnourishment in the Hardap region because the chronic drought just refused to let off. Unemployment is a massive problem in our community. I was unemployed for several years and helpless, and with 10 mouths to feed at home, including my son, it was very tough. Then suddenly, the Build Back Better urban garden project appeared and turned my life around,” he said.
Read the complete article at www.economist.com.na.
