{"id":17489,"date":"2022-04-22T14:10:29","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T14:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce"},"modified":"2022-04-22T14:24:26","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T14:24:26","slug":"farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce","title":{"rendered":"Farmer turns to social media to market produce"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>AINA Imalwa (29) says being a young vegetable farmer in Namibia is no easy feat, especially since local farmers are often excluded from major markets.<\/b><\/p>\n

This can lead to stored produce rotting, she says.<\/p>\n

Imalwa is an Etunda irrigation project farmer, and has taken to social media to market her produce.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello Namibia, I’m ‘Aina the farmer’ based at Etunda in the Omusati region, and I am here looking for cabbage buyers as harvesting begins on 10 April.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have almost 6 000 heads of cabbage. Kindly contact me,\u201d she recently posted on Facebook.<\/p>\n

Two days later she has sold all 6 000 heads of cabbage, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took only two days, whereas it would normally take weeks, while produce would spoil.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised, overwhelmed and touched by the response I got from everyone. People called me from the south of the country, the coast, the north \u2013 in fact, from all over.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople bought cabbages to resell, and unfortunately, some people were too far, so I couldn’t send cabbages out. Many others flocked to the farm to pick up their produce themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t realise the demand for fresh produce is this high. I am motivated to work harder through this experience,\u201d Imalwa says.<\/p>\n

She says she started farming with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.<\/p>\n

Government-imposed lockdowns and curfews during this time meant farmers were faced with a substantial decline in sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Covid-19 pandemic has really brought many challenges. Firstly, we didn’t have access to major markets. I produce a lot, but the problem is always finding customers \u2013 especially those who can buy produce in bulk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just started and lacked exposure. I would rent a vehicle which I used to sell my products at various open markets in the north,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Imalwa produces cabbages, carrots, buttenuts, maize, tomatoes, beetroots and green peppers.<\/p>\n

Born at Engombe village in the Omusati region, she says her love for agriculture was instilled watching her grandmother working the fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always followed my granny. I would join her and imitate her while she cultivated, until I was old enough to do it properly myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter completing school, I enrolled at the Omashale College of Agriculture in the Kavango East region, where I pursued a course in horticulture and agronomy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter completing my course, I started a sole agriculture business here at the Etunda irrigation project in 2020, and the rest is history,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial media is a great platform for anyone to market their business and showcase one’s products. It has really helped me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have managed to build a new clientele through the platform, and I really appreciate it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to advise young people who want to venture into agriculture that their dreams are valid, and anything can be achieved with the right mindset,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

‘REGISTER PLEASE’<\/p>\n

Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Water Reform spokesperson Jonah Musheko says fresh produce producers should be registered with the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) to be able to market their products.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don’t register, there is no way they would know about you. Your products, after registering, would further be referred to the Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency (Amta), which is responsible for marketing fresh produce \u2013 unless your products are not up to standard,\u201d Musheko says.<\/p>\n

Imalwa says although she is registered with the Namibian Agronomic Board, there is so much they can do and it is not enough. \u201c I am a registered member of NAB, they do help at times to find us customers for our produces both locally and outside the country, however, it is not enough. When it comes to Amta producers have to contact them and they will offer very low prices for our products and we are the ones who have to look for a way to get the products. The whole process is costly and not beneficial. If they could at least pay us a little bit more ,\u201d said Imalwa.<\/p>\n

Public relations officer at the Namibian Agronomic Board Auguste Fabian said the NAB is mandated to promote the agronomic industry and facilitate production, processing, storage and marketing of controlled agronomy and horticulture products in Namibia through market regulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThus far the agronomy and horticulture development has grown from strength to strength in terms of local production and marketing when compared to imports. We don’t know if Imalwa is is registered in our database. We will have to check,\u201d said Imalwa.<\/p>\n

Amta’s regional manager, Jacob Hamutenya, said he could not comment much and referred all queries to the NAB. \u201cYou will have to talk to NAB. Producers who use our services are only registered when they bring produces to Amta,\u201d said Hamutenya.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. AINA Imalwa (29) says being a young vegetable farmer in Namibia is no easy feat, especially since local farmers are often excluded from major markets. This can lead to stored produce rotting, she says. Imalwa is an Etunda irrigation project farmer, and has taken to social media to market her produce. \u201cHello […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":17488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-17489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nFarmer turns to social media to market produce - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"AINA Imalwa (29) says being a young vegetable farmer in Namibia is no easy feat, especially since local farmers are o ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Farmer turns to social media to market produce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AINA Imalwa (29) says being a young vegetable farmer in Namibia is no easy feat, especially since local farmers are o ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-22T14:10:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-22T14:24:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/04\/postQueueImg_20-6262ba86739c7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Farmer turns to social media to market produce\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-22T14:10:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-22T14:24:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce\"},\"wordCount\":801,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/04\/postQueueImg_20-6262ba86739c7.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/farmer-turns-to-social-media-to-market-produce\",\"name\":\"Farmer turns to social media to market produce - 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