Please see photos at the bottom of the report.
Introduction
I. Veggietunnel installation
* Soil Preparation
* Planting
* Irrigation System
II. Community Participation
III. Budget
Conclusion and Recommendation
Introduction
During the month of September 2013, 4 people from Gobabis were trained in veggietunnel production techniques at Hope Village in Windhoek. Then they waited funding to start a project of their own in Gobabis. During the period from September last year to September this year, they started practicing some of the knowledge and skills that they received, in their area, on a small scale. It was during the month of October 2014 tht funding was allocated to start a veggie tunnel project, to benefit the Kindergarten Centre that is part of a soup kitchen in their community. This community will benefit with this project as the kindergarten will be supplying meals for their children. In total, 6 soup kitchens will benefit from the project. This project was brought to Gobabis, primarily for food security for the children of the local community.
Emmanuel was then contacted this year, to install 6 veggie tunnels at the 'Light for Children Centrein Gobabis. This project was sponsored by an organization called PSG in Holland, Europe. The chairperson of this organization is Mr. Hessel Bouma. (Pastor Henk Olewage is the local contact person for this project in Gobabis).
The concept of veggie tunnels has been introduced in the Omaheke Region, at Gobabis, as part of a new project to the area. The students that were trained will continue in setting an example for the community in good agricultural skills and best practices. Emmanuel will be monitoring the garden and mentoring the students on an ongoing basis, until they have reached sustainability.
As part of the implementation of the veggie tunnel garden, Emmanuel has set up 6 veggie tunnels of 3.8m by 12m, with ground work, irrigation systems and planting. He was the one that drew up the budget and managed all the planning and implementation of the tunnels.
I. Veggietunnel installation
The 6 veggie tunnels were set up with the latest developments in the concept of veggie tunnels. They were 'caged' to be made 'self-standing'.
* Soil Preparation
The community of Gobabis benefited greatly from the installation of the veggie tunnels concept. This was due to the fact that thousnads of planting bags were replaced by a big single planting trench in the tunnel. This meant that we had to dig out the soil into the form of a trench before we lined it black plastic. This planting trench is 30cm deep and 3.6m by 11.80m. The plastic isolates the sand in it from desease and pests caused by insects. The soil was then treated and mixed with compost and super phosphate for fertility.
* Planting
After all of the preparation above, the soil in the tunnels were planted with summer seeds: Peas, Beans, Carrots, Spinach, Spring Onions, Green Pepper, Tomatoes and Cabbage. The students were trained during this exercise by showing them exactly how it should be done.
* Irrigation System
The six veggie tunnels were then equipped with irrigation systems. Each tunnel received 7 micro-spin sprayers and one tunnel received drippers for tomato planting.
To add to the irrigation system project, a 2 500L water tank was mounted on a stand 1.5m high, the pressure was increased by a 3 Bar Pump fitted with a filter. Each tunnel has a control tap on the inside, at the back of the tunnel.
To add to the irrigation system project, a 2 500L water tank was mounted on a stand 1.5m high, the pressure was increased by a 3 Bar Pump fitted with a filter. Each tunnel has a control tap on the inside, at the back of the tunnel.
II. Community Involvement
The community got involved in the installation of the veggie tunnels by planting seeds, helping with the ground work and the setting up of the tunnels. This included the students who helped with managing the whole process and the implementation.
As part of community services, prisoners joined us in the implementation of the tunnel. This was a great blessing to see them getting involved and giving a great service to the community. Every person that participated in the implementation of the tunnels, requested Emmanuel to return to Gobabis for follow up training. They left with great enthusiasm to go start their own gardens at home and were encouraged by the students, to come for further guidance in how to start a veggie tunnel garden at home.
III. Budget
The total budget that was spent for the veggie tunnel project implementation was an amount of NAD100 000. This was mainly for the purchasing of the materials to setup the tunnels, labour, the irrigation systems and transportation.
The beneficiaries of these veggie tunnel gardens will be the close community to these tunnels in Gobabis and more so, the Kindergarten children. The gardens were placed under the supervision of Sara Vita and Rudolph Totwe, who were students that received training in veggie tunnel production.
Conclusion a Recommendation
The students will carry on in implementing the lessons learnt during training, and they will be receiving further mentoring and monitoring from Emmanuel.
Emmanuel recommended to the Centre that the gardens be provided with gardening tools and a store room for their equipment. He also recommended that the area where the tunnels were placed, be fenced off, even though the main yard has a fence.
The project was a great success and the community participated very positive. This project has great potential and will beneifit everyone close to it, greatly.
The project was a great success and the community participated very positive. This project has great potential and will beneifit everyone close to it, greatly.
Report by
Emmanuel Muyumba
Trainer of Trainers in Urban Horticulture
Hope Village Namibia
+264813899866
PO Box 4774
Windhoek
Namibia
Let the pictures tell the story:-
Let the pictures tell the story:-
