“Namibia is currently experiencing a severe drought following almost three decades of low seasonal rainfall and a second year of failed rains in some locations. On 17 May 2013, the Government declared a drought emergency as the country faced the death of livestock, failure of crops, reduced economic activities, and declines in human health. With all 13 regions of the country affected, an Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA) identified 778,504 people (37 per cent of the population) directly affected, including 109,000 children under the age of 5 who require urgent support.
“Against a backdrop of underlying fragility, including pre-existing high levels of food insecurity and maternal and child under-nutrition (29% national stunting) combined with low sanitation coverage (14% in rural areas), children and women are particularly at risk of worsening health and nutrition status given the current drought conditions. Although June marks only the beginning of the dry season, there has already been a sharp increase in clinic admissions for treatment of severe acute malnutrition, and 8 reported deaths in one of the most affected regions - Kunene.
“While the Government has responded with interim measures providing 500MT of (unfortified) maize meal for each region for a period of two months, the lack of community-based malnutrition screening and treatment, as well as targeted support for young children’s nutritional needs is a critical gap. The impact of the drought will continue to unfold through the remainder of 2013 and the numbers of affected children and households is likely to increase through March 2014 when the next crop cycle should be harvested. It is essential to include prevention as well as treatment and support for health and nutrition immediately, adapting planning figures and approaches over the next nine months.”
And for this reason, it is ever more important that I begin my garden project....and especially run the HEARTH program for mothers with under-weight (malnourished) children, and teach them the Permagarden technique (at least this is the one the PC is training us in - though I'm looking at all of my resources and options - I figure, the more tools I have in my back pocket, the better at a chance of success!). For some great reading, suggested to me by Peter Jensen, our PC Permagarden guru, read How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons. Also, if you're on facebook, check out Peter's fb page: Permagardens for Empowerment and Resilience.
Although I have only been here for a few months, and therefore I can't compare the climate/weather of these last few months to previous years, I will tell you that, especially outside the village, there isn't much greenery and the cattle that are on the sides of the roads are so thin that you can see their ribs. And though my supervisor has not said anything to me yet about malnutrition here in the village, I know it was already a problem - especially in the small children.
I will be attending a workshop by Peter at the end of October - to learn all about Permagardens! So, until then - and I am still waiting to meet with the committee, to help decide on the specifics of this garden project - I will be starting my own compost pile, and my Meme has allowed me to start a small little garden at our home. I'm hoping that by showing that this technique can work - and will produce much more food (doubles after the first season, and then over 600% after the second), over a smaller area of land (potentially 1/8 the land!), with less water usage, and help add nutrients to the soil - AND be sustainable - that they will want to incorporate this in to our Clinic Garden.
So here goes something....
p.s.
I am going to try to get photos of the cattle and the land very soon, so you can see what I see....and will soon be posting them....
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