Open Day and Handing over of Certificates
In CuveWaters, facilities for rainwater harvesting have been piloted in the village of Epyeshona, near Oshakati, since 2009. During the short rainy season, rainwater is harvested on rooftops and concrete surfaces and then stored in tanks made of different materials. The harvested water is of fairly good quality and is mainly intended for gardening purposes, but can also be used for washing, cooking or watering livestock. Gardens with water-saving drip irrigation systems were established next to the tanks. Over the course of the last six years CuveWaters has trained lots of farmers in all aspects of rainwater harvesting and the irrigation of vegetables with the water harvested.
Dozens of farmers in the villages Epyeshona and Iipopo (Oshana region), in the town of Ongwediva, and in the villages Omuthiya and Onamishu (Oshikoto region) are now able to harvest rainwater from their roofs or from nearby Oshanas during the rainy season and to irrigate small fields with vegetables such as tomatoes, green pepper and spinach during the dry season. Yet despite all the knowledge they gained, these farmers still need regular assistance by Agricultural Extension staff.
As irrigation farming is a rather new technology in Namibia most Agricultural Extension staff is not familiar with irrigation vegetable farming and CuveWaters therefore has conducted a training for Agricultural Extension staff between April and June 2015, as mentioned in previous news on the 20th of March and 6th of May (see below). The training took place at the “Rainwater Harvesting Field Laboratory” at UNAMs Engineer Jose Eduardo dos Santos Campus in Ongwediva and was conducted by Isaac Kariuki, a rainwater harvesting and horticulture expert from Kenya.
The trainees learned all skills necessary for conducting extension services to small scale irrigation farmers, such as:
- Principles of Rainwater Harvesting and water storage
- Irrigation and water saving measures
- Fertilizer and pesticide usage as well as detection of pests
- Table banking and accounting
- Participatory extension approaches
- Monitoring and evaluation of farming success
On the 5th of June 2015 at 10 am CuveWaters would like to invite everybody who is interested for an open day at the “Rainwater Harvesting Field Laboratory” on UNAMs Engineer Jose Eduardo dos Santos Campus in Ongwediva (please click link for more information on how to get there: www.cuvewaters.net/How-to-get-there.157.0.html) during which the certificates will be handed over to the successful trainees.
We look forward to seeing you there and celebrating another joyful occasion. Cooldrinks and Fingerfood will be provided.
For more information please don’t hesitate to contact Isaac Kariuki 081-2362942 or Alexander Jokisch a.jokisch(at)iwar.tu-darmstadt.de