Big plans for Roots village, apple project

ELLANIE SMIT WINDHOEKLocated in Stampriet, the Roots apple project is the first commercial apple orchard in Namibia.Producing apples of different sizes, it forms part of the Roots Development that offers community-based living with a sustainable future. This agricultural village is based on a unique model which combines intensive farming of livestock and permanent crops with an agricultural college for education in food security, a retirement village, a lifestyle village and various business opportunities.A delegation from Roots recently paid a courtesy visit to Agribank to showcase their first apple harvest from the project, which was co-financed by the bank.Team leader Willien Meiring said Roots believes in a new concept of creating agricultural towns that first create a mini-local economy and grow exponentially to export products to international markets.Their farming development is divided into two sections, she explained.The first are subsistence farming units with own title deeds aimed at empowering local people to participate in farming, while the second comprises a commercial section of over 50 agricultural plots. Ensuring food securityThe apple project was established on 10 hectares of land in a single phase in 2018. Being a net importer, Namibia imports 8 000 tons of apples per year.“Our vision is to ensure food security in Namibia. As a country, we cannot afford to be depending on other countries to supply us with food. We also want to ensure skills development in farming.“We recently opened a school and we are set to establish an agricultural college that will train and equip farmers to become sustainable entrepreneurs in order to curb the high unemployment rate in the country,” Meiring said.According to her, the apple project recently obtained a local market and they are currently working on a trademark for their products.In the near future, Roots plans to intensify their production for foreign markets to earn foreign currency needed for the country as well as to create sustainable jobs for Namibians, she said.Foreign currency earner“As you may all be aware, Namibia’s biggest foreign currency earner, tourism, is the most adversely affected sector by the coronavirus. So, at Roots we believe that agriculture can replace tourism as a foreign currency earner,” Meiring said.Meanwhile, Agribank’s CEO Sakaria Nghikembua said the bank’s mandate - as a role player in the transformation of the agricultural sector - is to facilitate food security, job creation and economic growth.He commended the Roots project for paying a courtesy visit to the bank to share their farming progress.“We cannot be relying on South Africa for almost everything. So, we need to ask ourselves as a nation why can we not produce our own vegetables, onions, tomatoes and other basic foodstuffs? It is not only about having our own products, but also all our efforts are aimed at supporting initiatives that create jobs and grow the economy.”

Big plans for Roots village, apple project

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-02

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Big plans for Roots village, apple project

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-02

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