Otjiwarongo residents use open municipal land to plant crops

Residents of Otjiwarongo have been planting vegetables in open spaces in the town to address food insecurity.

Even though they understand that they cannot put up permanent structures on municipal land, the residents have started planting on the available land.

This is done in a manner that is normally practiced on farms or villages, where households wake up as early as six o’clock to either plough or sow in their fields.

Gardens can be seen on the outskirts of Otjiwarongo’s informal settlements, with some residents busy ploughing.

Others have taken advantage of the riverbeds and planted maize and some pearl millet, commonly known as mahangu.

Those who have already planted last year will be harvesting anytime soon, while others are looking at the skies, hoping for rain.

The residents narrated that since they cannot fence their gardens off, those who do not want to put in the work steal from their gardens.

This, however, does not discourage them from sowing, as there is always some left for them to reap.