A photograph taken in May 2021, of a Mahangu harvester in Northern Namibia, by Jonathon Rees, has won first prize in an international photographic competition, organised by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
The competition was part of the FAO’s International Year of Millets, which raised awareness of the nutritional benefits of millets, including Mahangu and their cultivation under changing climate conditions.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Namibia said the picture shows Maria Nakumbwata harvesting Mahangu at her homestead in Okahanya village in the Oshikoto Region.
“The global photo contest was open to professional and amateur photographers and received more than 800 entries from more than 50 countries. The winning picture was selected by an international jury of photographers, photo editors, agronomists, and communication specialists,” they added.
They highlighted that Rees worked as a journalist in Namibia in the 1990s and now runs the specialist communication agency Proof Africa and he took the winning photograph on assignment with GIZ Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung (GmbH) for the BioInnovation Africa (BIA) project, executed on behalf of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) and funded by the German Government.
“Mahangu is a staple food for more than half of all Namibians and is well adapted to low rainfall and soil conditions in the country’s north-central regions and it plays a significant role in ensuring food security in rural communities,” they explained.
GIZ has been working with the Namibian government since 1990 to improve the livelihoods of rural communities and projects include trade and biodiversity, rural development, environment and climate change, and sustainable infrastructure.
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