Draft power makes all the difference

Agricultural financing agency, Kongalend, last week handed over a total of 18 tractors complete with rippers, worth over N$5.5 million, at events in Ondangwa and Rundu, to their new owners who are farming families in the cropland regions.
The shiny green John Deere 4×4 tractors were supplied by Hoffman’s Farm Implements in Otjiwarongo while the rippers are manufactured by Baufi’s Agricultural Services. This tremendous boost in the farmers’ capacity will enable them to increase their acreage while practising conservation tillage for more efficient moisture retention. The tractors were financed by Kongalned.
The Kongalend agri-business package was designed to capacitate participants in the three-year USAID-funded Namibia Conservation Agriculture Project (NCAP), and rolled out through its implementing partners, the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) and the Ondangwa-based Creative Entrepreneurs Solutions (CES).
The Conservation Agriculture Project is introducing small-scale farmers in the seven crop producing regions of northern Namibia to conservation agriculture through hands-on training conducted on demonstration plots in their areas using methods that have been specially designed to mitigate the impacts of both drought and flood.
Farmers participating in the programme are taught techniques to increase rainwater retention, soil fertility and crop productivity.

To guarantee the long-term impact and sustainability through adoption of these new farming methods, Kongalend, as the programme’s financial partner provides access to funding through its Lima Power loan product, to bridge the chasm between subsistence farming and small-scale commercial production.
“Today’s hand-over of tractors and rippers, acquired at a cost of N$5.5 million, marks an important step in Kongalend’s long-term commitment to provide tailor-made financial products to support the growth of agri-business, targeting the entire agricultural value chain, from land preparation to harvest and product processing and distribution,” noted Tshoombe Ndadi, Chairman of Kongalend Financial Services.