Namibia
Kalahari Garden Project, Namibia
Support for the internally displaced San peoples in Namibia.
We are working in partnership with the Global Diversity Foundation and The Eden Project, as well as local NGO, Komeho Namibia, to develop the Kalahari Garden Project, which has been established to support the internally displaced San peoples, who once hunted and gathered for edible and medicinal plants, on land that is now commercial or communal farmland. Boreholes on these farms have been responsible for lowering the water table, disrupting game patterns, and placing unforeseen pressures on bio-cultural diversity, with many of the plants and techniques used over thousands of years to manage these resources, now at risk of being lost to future generations.
People who have been hunter/gatherers for thousands of years, have been forced to settle, without any knowledge of cultivation, resulting in extreme poverty and poor health. The project is working with schools and communities to assist them to feed themselves and their children, and will pilot indigenous gardens - researching and putting into cultivation species which are more culturally and ecologically appropriate.
The Project now has a total of 42 gardens spread between five villages. The majority of gardens are already yielding produce. The gardens are 10 x 14 metres and have strong, livestock-proof fencing and rows of tilled sand improved with dung and ash. Summer vegetables sown included tomatoes, kale, chilli pepper, pumpkin, squash, beetroot, carrots, watermelon and onions. Clementine, pomegranate and fig trees were also planted. Winter vegetables sown include Swiss chard, cabbage, cauliflower and carrots. Where water pressure is sufficient, the gardens are equipped with drip irrigation systems.
The Kalahari Garden Project is based on previous ethno botanical and anthropological research carried out in the area by project coordinator Hattie Wells, working with San represented NGOs, and the experience of partner organisations in rural development and dryland horticultural. The harvest and consumption data recorded in the past year suggests that diet has already been significantly improved, providing considerable hope that this population may be able to make a successful transition, for the future generation.
Over the coming year, we expect that Project activities will achieve the following:
1. Improve food security, nutrition and health of a population of approximately 650 by providing access to a reliable and nutritious food supply that will supplement their daily staples and increase the diversity of food types consumed.
2. Improve access to water for drinking, sanitation, and irrigation - promoting systems for sustainability (of each water source) and re-use.
3. Provide specialist training in sustainable resource-use to local partners to increase their capacity for outreach in resource insecure environments.
4. Consolidate and expand current knowledge of San plant-lore, information that is currently threatened by changing subsistence strategies and increased competition for natural resources.
5. Disseminate information about the positive impact of improved nutrition to build natural immunity against HIV-related infections, and in promoting adherence and absorption of ART where available.
6. Emphasise the value of indigenous plants and associated knowledge and encourage the transmission of this information within the local primary school, homestead and community.
7. Help build the skills and infrastructure necessary for the diversification of livelihood options and the development of self-reliant communities.
Project Collaborators
• Global Diversity Foundation
• Komeho
• The Eden Project
Help GardenAfrica and our Food Security Project
Make a Donation to GardenAfrica
<< Back to Countries where GardenAfrica operates list
Support for the internally displaced San peoples in Namibia.
We are working in partnership with the Global Diversity Foundation and The Eden Project, as well as local NGO, Komeho Namibia, to develop the Kalahari Garden Project, which has been established to support the internally displaced San peoples, who once hunted and gathered for edible and medicinal plants, on land that is now commercial or communal farmland. Boreholes on these farms have been responsible for lowering the water table, disrupting game patterns, and placing unforeseen pressures on bio-cultural diversity, with many of the plants and techniques used over thousands of years to manage these resources, now at risk of being lost to future generations.
People who have been hunter/gatherers for thousands of years, have been forced to settle, without any knowledge of cultivation, resulting in extreme poverty and poor health. The project is working with schools and communities to assist them to feed themselves and their children, and will pilot indigenous gardens - researching and putting into cultivation species which are more culturally and ecologically appropriate.
The Project now has a total of 42 gardens spread between five villages. The majority of gardens are already yielding produce. The gardens are 10 x 14 metres and have strong, livestock-proof fencing and rows of tilled sand improved with dung and ash. Summer vegetables sown included tomatoes, kale, chilli pepper, pumpkin, squash, beetroot, carrots, watermelon and onions. Clementine, pomegranate and fig trees were also planted. Winter vegetables sown include Swiss chard, cabbage, cauliflower and carrots. Where water pressure is sufficient, the gardens are equipped with drip irrigation systems.
The Kalahari Garden Project is based on previous ethno botanical and anthropological research carried out in the area by project coordinator Hattie Wells, working with San represented NGOs, and the experience of partner organisations in rural development and dryland horticultural. The harvest and consumption data recorded in the past year suggests that diet has already been significantly improved, providing considerable hope that this population may be able to make a successful transition, for the future generation.
Over the coming year, we expect that Project activities will achieve the following:
1. Improve food security, nutrition and health of a population of approximately 650 by providing access to a reliable and nutritious food supply that will supplement their daily staples and increase the diversity of food types consumed.
2. Improve access to water for drinking, sanitation, and irrigation - promoting systems for sustainability (of each water source) and re-use.
3. Provide specialist training in sustainable resource-use to local partners to increase their capacity for outreach in resource insecure environments.
4. Consolidate and expand current knowledge of San plant-lore, information that is currently threatened by changing subsistence strategies and increased competition for natural resources.
5. Disseminate information about the positive impact of improved nutrition to build natural immunity against HIV-related infections, and in promoting adherence and absorption of ART where available.
6. Emphasise the value of indigenous plants and associated knowledge and encourage the transmission of this information within the local primary school, homestead and community.
7. Help build the skills and infrastructure necessary for the diversification of livelihood options and the development of self-reliant communities.
Project Collaborators
• Global Diversity Foundation
• Komeho
• The Eden Project
Help GardenAfrica and our Food Security Project
Make a Donation to GardenAfrica
<< Back to Countries where GardenAfrica operates list
