Staff Writer
More than 1,000 people stood in line on Friday, hoping to be recruited for seasonal employment at the blueberries farm in the Mashare Constituency, Kavango East.
This is on top of the farm already sitting with over 2,000 employment applications for the positions.
The employment will be during the harvest for the next few weeks until the end of October.
Petrus Ngongo, a graduate from Unam and also searching for a seasonal job at the farm, told The Villager that he decided to come to look for work at the farm because he needs a job as unemployment in Namibia is very high.
“I am here to try my luck. A seasonal job right now will be the best thing that will happen to me.” According to Ngongo, if Kavango East had an agricultural college, a lot of employment would be created by the skills people would get from the college.
Victoria Mavara Ghukamba, who came from Thighuru village, told The Villager that she came as early as 5 am, and the farm was already full because some people had slept at the farm.
“The farm manager gave us numbers from 1 to 1000, but the people were still a lot. Not everyone got numbers. The numbers that were given were for us to fill in applications. I am hoping to secure myself a job in berry harvesting. I have my experience that I worked at a farm in Grootfontein in 2014.”
The project is regarded as Namibia’s first ever commercial berries plantation with an aim to produce more than 5,000 tons of blueberries annually, employ more than 250 people permanently and 5,000 as seasonal workers by 2025.
A notice was given on the radio, and the jobs were also advertised on the government’s website (NIEIS) Namibia Integrated Employment Information System. Some applications were also handed in at the Shambyu Traditional Office.
According to the Mashare Berries managing director, Lourens Le Grange, there will be around 1,000 seasonal jobs available for harvesters this year. “We’re hoping that in the next four months, we’re definitely going to reduce some unemployment of the residents here. Kavango is well known as a food basket region, and the harvest of berries will feed Namibia and other foreign countries.”
Le Grange also said, “It is expected that in 2025, Mashare Berries will employ about 60 people full-time, and we will continue to provide seasonal employment during the harvest time. We will be advertising seasonal employment every year on different platforms. We want to create an engagement for every citizen to have a chance for employment”, he concluded.
