Wilderness Namibia will continue with this initiative into January 2025, to help those experiencing food insecurity through what is expected to be the most difficult drought period, bringing the total number of food parcels distributed to 1,200.
“Wilderness Namibia has had strong, mutually-beneficial working relationships with many of these communities for more than 30 years, and we’ve always believed that investing in the wellbeing of people and local communities is key to protecting wild areas and wildlife. We are thus extremely grateful to have secured a USD50,000 (NAD892,000) donation from the Michael and Karen Stone Family Foundation, to help alleviate the dire food insecurity being faced by our partner communities – located in or near the conservancies where we operate, including the Doro !Nawas, Ehi Rovipuka, Anabeb, Torra, Sesfontein, Marienfluss conservancies, as well as communities in and around Rietoog and Mariental”, noted Alex Henderson, Wilderness Namibia Managing Director.
“This drought is devastating for the people of Namibia, as well as for the livestock and wildlife they rely on for livelihoods. Without rainfall, communities are facing serious water shortages, meaning that there is not enough drinking water to go around, their crops are failing, and their livestock is perishing. We recognise these realities, and hope that this food relief initiative will help to alleviate the worst of the situation, until the rains come”, said Agnes Tjirare-Kerii, Wilderness Namibia Impact Manager.
“We consulted our community leaders with this intervention plan, including the contents in each parcel for maximum nutrition. Each food parcel distributed can support up to four people for one month, and includes salt; matches; cooking oil; soup and soup mix; instant yeast; white bread flour; maize; sugar; rice; tea; and coffee. I am fortunate to have been on the road distributing the parcels to the communities on behalf of Wilderness Namibia, and have personally witnessed the relief in the eyes of the elderly, and the bright smiles on the faces of younger members of the community, when our vehicles arrive. Our team at Wilderness will reminisce on their kind expressions for some time to come”, concluded Agnes.
In addition to the support being rolled out across Namibia, Wilderness is also extending its Drought Relief Nutrition Programme to communities in need in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, delivering a total of 9,000 emergency food parcels to approximately 12,500 individuals between November 2024 and January 2025.
Help us expand the reach of this much-needed initiative to cover more regions and beneficiaries.
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