11 Sep 2013

Raising livestock in the Okavango region undoubtedly remains among the toughest decisions an aspiring farmer can consider. In fact, established farmers will seldom engage in a discussion surrounding livestock rearing in the Okavango, it is just a non-starter!

Simply because from way back, the Okavango has always been a red zone due to copious outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease. This sad fact literally condemns livestock farming to be a costly and uneconomic venture as farmers could sell to lucrative markets such as the European Union.  But that thinking appears to be home and dry only among the faint hearted.

Twenty-six-year old, Mr Ernest Tjihumino from Habu still harbours a dream of owning a livestock farm, selling to profitable markets and eventually employing young people to work for him. Having accessed the Youth Development Fund (YDF) in 2010, Mr Tjihumino bought 72 goats which are thriving as he has already paid 40 per cent of his grant. 

When talking about his business, there is no doubt that this young man loves this otherwise onerous undertaking.  As a way of diversifying his business he has since included sheep in his stock so as to provide choice to the customer.

“I have also introduced the barter system whereby I give you five goats in exchange of a cow with the hope that one day our region will be able to sell to lucrative markets,” he said. Mr Tjihumino says youth programs are good because if taken serious, they can get the youth out of poverty, adding that one will never go wrong with livestock farming. 

The problem with most youth, he says, is their negative attitude towards farming as they only want white collar jobs even though the market cannot absorb everybody.

For one to be successful in livestock farming, Mr Tjihumino says, they need to have passion and patience because it is both labour and capital intensive while the rewards take a longer period to be realized. As of now he wants to buy layers and sell eggs after having realized that there is a niche for that in Habu.

 “Because of the bad state of the road from Gumare, it is impossible to buy eggs from there so I think it will be a good idea to have a poultry too.” In that endeavor he so far owns six layers and says he intends to increase them to meet demand. ENDS