An investigation into the role of irrigated gardens in filling the food gap in Kavango East region, Namibia.
Kawana, Romanus Kavindame.
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Kavango East region is facing insufficient food for most of its community, especially in the rural areas since 2012. This is attributed to climate change which induces, in most cases, drought and floods. The Government of the Republic of Namibia has been assisting climate change affected rural communities by distributing food consignments, to minimize the negative effects. This program is costly to the national budget, and it is done at the expense of other priorities of national development. This study was centred on a livelihood based analysis of the contribution of irrigated gardens in filling food availability gap left by the rain-fed harvest in Kavango East Region, Namibia. A study was conducted among 200 participants (100 households without gardens and 100 households with gardens) at 20 randomly selected villages and data was collected through the use of Livelihood Analysis framework, Income and Expenditure Pattern, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale Score (HFIAS), and Dietary Diversity Score (DDS). An open-ended and closed-ended questionnaire was used for data collection. The data was analysed using SPSS, while for Household Food Insecurity Access Scale Score (HFIAS), and Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) data were analysed according to the procedures developed by FANTA in SPSS. Households with a garden had more ability to fill the food availability gap left by the rain-fed harvest as compared to the households without gardens. Households with gardens were experiencing an improvement in their dietary diversity through irrigated gardening, as compared to households without an irrigated garden. However, the lack of markets and important inputs discourages the willingness to use the irrigated garden. Despite the challenges, the household with irrigated gardens was benefiting from irrigated gardens. The study recommends that the leadership of the Kavango East Region should promote the establishment of gardens by communities alongside market development, in order to enhance food availability. Therefore, further research could be carried out to investigate produce demand, market size and the role of market availability for irrigated garden produce in enhancing the socio-economic situation of irrigated gardeners in Kavango East Region.