Bushmen crop and livestock farmers learn more at Farm Krumhuk

05 January 2016 – Recently seven San (Bushman) agricultural and livestock champions from Nyae Nyae and N≠a Jaqna Conservancy visited the “collective style” commercial farm, Krumhuk, just outside Windhoek.

Krumhuk operates on bio-dynamic, organic and holistic principles which the Bushmen are introducing in their villages in the former Bushmanland, now the eastern section of the Otjozondjupa Region.

The trip was part of ongoing work funded by the European Union and Finnish Embassy to increase agricultural and livestock management capacity in these two San communities where food security is a serious and daily threat to their wellbeing.

“The environment within these conservancies is harsh and these communities are particularly at risk from the impactsof climate change, therefore assisting the San communities to develop capacity to improve their long-term food security is the ultimate goal” said Lara Diez of the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation.

The visit consisted of a mix of presentations from Krumhuk by visiting specialist facilitators and those working at farm Krumhuk, as well as practical field work. Herding Krumhuk cattle and seeing the process from herding all the way through to the making of cheese, harvesting crops and their sale at the weekly bio-market in Klein Windhoek was all part of their training.

According to Diez, the San agricultural and livestock champions have shown a real aptitude for livestock management and farming in their communities.

“They have been handpicked to deepen their knowledge and capacity so that they can go on to train more San people in their communities in Nyae Nyae and N≠a Jaqna Conservancy,” she stated.

She added that the training equiped them with valuable insight, knowledge and ideas that the budding farmers can take back and teach in their communities.