Howaes urges women not to rely on men for food

Yvonne Howaes, a full-time communal farmer and enthusiastic upcoming agri-businesswoman, has urged all women to stand up and work for themselves, and not to rely on men for sustenance.

She farms on Farm Houmoed in the Khorixas area, south of the Kunene Region.

In her vegetable garden, she currently plants lucerne, sunflowers, barley, chillis, peppers, spinach, onions, watermelons, maize, moringa trees and aloe vera. She also intends to plant grass.

Howaes participated in the Agribank women and youth training, funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit’s (GIZ) farming for resilience project in 2021.

According to Agribank, there she gained knowledge on crops, poultry, piggery and fodder production for her livestock.

Being a conventional small stock farmer, she reflected on how she is now able to grow food for her family as well as her small stock.

She also owns dual-purpose chickens such as koekoeks, australorps, some quails as well as few ducks and rabbits, she said.



Self-sufficient

According to the bank, she currently sells her produce to locals and is negotiating with retailers such as Choppies as well.

Howaes mentioned that 90% of her family’s food consumption comes from her garden and, as such, she manages to put food on the table for her children.

In the future, she wants to focus on supplying chicks, pigs and sheep to other farmers.

Agribank said Howaes has also acquired an incubator to hatch eggs and plans to sell day-old chicks to interested farmers in the community.

She listed water supply for her garden, lack of shade netting and wild birds that eat her plants as the challenges she faces.