Women receive donation for horticulture project
The North West District of Botswana has always been plagued by a contrast between abject poverty and splendid wildlife that attracts people from across the globe to come and unwind.
In the village of Mohembo, a group of 12 women called Mohembo East Group, have decided to fight this poverty by starting a horticultural project in the tourism rich district.
Armed with skills and knowledge they gathered from the local agricultural office, the women identified land next to the Okavango River and began planting different vegetables in March this year.
One of the pioneers of the project, Nkhaera Dirunda (47) said they decided to take up vegetable as a business to fend for themselves during this tough economic climate and chose to plant by the riverside, as this allows easy access to water.
Dirunda said it has been quite risky for them to get water from the crocodile and hippo infested river by using watering buckets. She is however grateful that no harm has befallen them yet and that the elephants in the region have also not destroyed their plants.
She said that the next logical step for them is to go to the regional social welfare office to see how they can be assisted in terms of market penetration and overall growth of their project which has potential to be a source of steady income for their community.
Dirunda expressed gratitude for a donation of P42 000-worth equipment from Irio Irrigation saying it will greatly help their project. The donation includes drip irrigation pipes, seeds and accessories.
Itumeleng Kanotunga from Irio Solutions (trading as Irio Irrigation) explained that Iro Irrigation will also install these pipes because the installation process is technical.
Kanotunga said they saw it fit to make this donation because it’s not every day that you see women coming together to work towards a common goal.
“These women are carrying out a task which very few women would want to partake in, fetching water by buckets to water such a huge space cannot be easy, these women have proven to us that where there is a will there is a way,” Kanotunga said.
The donation is expected to make the women’s work easier and increase yield and the quality of the produce.