BERSEBA: Residents of Berseba are busy preparing a plot of land which will be used to start a community vegetable garden at the southern village.
Community members started the voluntary clearing of the land in July this year, and it is expected to be ready for use some time this month.
The 200 by 150 metre plot will be fenced off with wire mesh and other fencing materials provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.
Berseba Village Council local authority councillors Salmon Isaaks and Sabina Esterhuizen told Nampa in an interview on Monday that the Agriculture Ministry will also provide irrigation equipment.
“We applied for assistance from the ministry, and they gave us the fencing materials this month and also promised to help us with the supply and installation of irrigation pipes,” said Esterhuizen.
The vegetables, which will include cabbages, tomatoes, carrots and sweet potatoes, will be irrigated with water from a nearby borehole.
“The Ministry of Agriculture will also give us about 200 fruit seedlings for our garden,” Isaaks stated.
Esterhuizen noted that the garden is sure to make money for the community and provide food security in the area.
Isaaks also said the community wants to re-establish an aquaculture project here which ceased to function in 2010 after the windmill that provided water to the pond at the project, broke.
The project was started in 2008 with the assistance of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources.
The idea now is that the project will make use of natural water from a fountain in the area.
Isaaks said the ministry already agreed to provide fish and training in support of the project.
So far, the project has one pond and two more are needed, but Isaaks said there is a need for a bulldozer for the digging of the ponds.
Financing to start and maintain the fish project is also a challenge, and the community plans to approach the Karas Regional Council (KRC) for help in that regard.
Berseba is situated some 130 kilometres north-west of Keetmanshoop in the Karas Region.