'Dexters carry us through the drought'

The Helmeringhausen Farmers’ Association’s Dexter cattle project was honoured by the Namibia Agricultural Union as the 2024 NAU-Feedmaster Community Project of the Year. Association chairperson Jörg Gaugler spoke to Annelie Coleman about this unique project and the difference it makes in the farming community.

- Annelie Coleman

The village of Helmeringhausen is situated in the arid southern region of Namibia, some 200km north-east of Lüderitz and 500km south of the capital Windhoek. The district has been suffering from a severe drought for more than a decade.

According to Jörg Gaugler, chairperson of the Helmeringhausen Farmers’ Association (HFA) and owner of Dabis farm, the drought has had a distressing economic, social, and emotional impact on the farming community. The economic impact alone has been severe.

“With our Dexter project, we are starting right on our doorstep to give community members a chance to become fully part of the HFA as well as of the NAU [Namibia Agricultural Union]. In this way, the burden to be borne is divided between all members, just as it should be in a healthy community,” says Gaugler.

“The situation had become so bad that some of the cash-strapped farmers could simply no longer afford the HFA fees, nor could they afford to visit larger towns like Lüderitz or Keetmanshoop for shopping and, as a result, had become more and more isolated.

“One must keep in mind that we farm under extremely extensive and vast conditions, which often adds to the sense of isolation caused by the drought. This could not be allowed to continue and that is why the association came up with the Dexter project,” he added.

PLUCKY LITTLE DEXTERS

The HFA consequently established a herd of Dexter cattle a few years ago with the objective of generating sufficient funds to cover the NAU and HFA fees of the community members who could no longer afford them.

Gaugler, brimming with enthusiasm about the project, lovingly refers to the cattle as “little Dexter bugs”.

According to Lizelle Murray, HFA treasurer, the association now has 28 cattle on register.