20/08/2026
In Kapako Constituency, one of the poorest constituencies in Namibia's Kavango West Region, the Finnish Southern Africa Cooperation Institute (FSAI), in collaboration with the University of Namibia (UNAM), has launched an ambitious project to contribute to the constituency's prosperity through a community gardening and agricultural development initiative. The project builds on earlier UNAM research into drought, food security and household coping strategies, which found that agriculture-dependent and female-headed households are hit hardest by climate shocks, and that most coping is driven by fear rather than planning. FSAI and UNAM have already completed a community visioning and sensitisation process in the constituency, meeting with the Councillor of Kapako, the Governor of Kavango West, and the Traditional Authority (the Hompa), and facilitating a Community Visioning Workshop with twenty community beneficiaries, where residents identified smarter agriculture, educated youth and improved household income as their vision for the next two years. The resulting Agriculture Development Project will rehabilitate a borehole, install solar-powered irrigation, and provide fencing, land clearing and training — directly benefiting around fifty households — with land for the project already secured.
The initiative has been endorsed at every level consulted, and the community's own Constituency Development Committee has registered an association to oversee it and ensure it delivers lasting impact rather than a short-lived project. FSAI now invites partners and funders to join this noble effort to help finalise the resources needed to bring the project to life and expand its impact to address the community's wider needs, including safe water, electricity and youth skills training. Interested organisations and individuals can contact Dr Sarudzai Simango, Director, FSAI, at the details provided on our website.
https://fsai.fi/en/be-part-of-building-cooperation-between-finland-and-southern-africa/
