Placido Hilukilwa
THE rainy season is at hand and subsistence farmers in the Northern regions of Namibia are encouraged to start diversifying their produce instead of limiting themselves to the traditional crops such as millet and sorghum.
They need to start planting vegetables and fruit-bearing trees to enrich their nutrition and for income generation. This comes from Vilho Shimwooshili, the newly installed headman of the Omhedi-B village in the Ohangwena region.
The 53-year-old Shimwooshili was one of seven village headmen installed by Queen Martha Mwadinomho Kristian Nelumbu during a ceremony at Helao Nafidi town last week. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Informanté, Shimwooshili said his densely populated village is blessed with fertile soil and abundant underground water, making it easy for villagers to have orchards and plant vegetables throughout the year.
“I intent to encourage villagers to have a minimum of three different fruit-bearing trees such as mangoes, guavas paw-paws for every household. This would substantially improve the villagers’ nutrition and generate money,” he said, adding that the availability of water is not a problem because many homesteads are already linked to a water pipeline which passes through the village, those who cannot afford water bills can dig their own water wells and tap from the abundant underground water.
Shimwooshili is a local businessman and a Lutheran lay preacher. He was until recently the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) sole councillor for the Helao Nafidi town but resigned his seat and also gave up his RDP membership.
