Tjikunda Kulunga
18 April 2008
Opuwo — Mopane worm collectors are flocking to different villages of the Kunene Region in search of the delicacy.
Women and men are seen along the roads in Opuwo town camping out in tents, slugging around buckets and very big bags, all with the aim of collecting 'oshiungu' or mopane worms, which essentially are sun-dried caterpillars.
Nampa visited different camps of mopane worm collectors around Opuwo, and many collectors were happy with their harvests this year.
The good rainfalls recorded in Opuwo of about 870 millimetres this year have brought out a huge amount of mopane worms in Opuwo and nearby villages.
According to Lucia Josef who came to Opuwo from the Ondugulu yOshali village in the Ohangwena region, she has already managed to collect about 50 kg of mopane worms, although she only arrived two days ago.
"There are a lot of mopane worms here.
It is just that most of them are still very small, but there is enough to collect," said Josef.
According to Josef, her mahangu field was destroyed by the floods and so she had no other option but to collect mopane worms in order to sell these and buy food and other necessities for her family.
"It is my first time to come and collect mopane worms, but I am happy about my collection," noted Josef.
Another first-time collector, Namwandi Kamati, who came from Okaukamasheshe village in the Oshana Region, said he was happy with his collection after scoring about 40 kg of mopane worms after only five days of harvesting.
At the Otjongoro village, about 150 collectors have been registered and most of them came from the Oshana and Ohangwena regions.
Some collectors brought along items like clothes, maize and alcohol, which they exchanged for mopane worms.
Nelago Jafet, who was in the last group of collectors to arrive at Otjongoro village, told Nampa that they arrived a little bit late and that the mopane worms were finished in the area in which they were permitted to collect.
"We found some and we all managed to fill a 50-kilogramme bag each, but we are not satisfied as we were aiming for more than three bags for the purpose of selling them in Windhoek or Walvis Bay," said Jafet.
According to Jafet, it would be a waste of time to take one bag to Walvis Bay or Windhoek as one would lose money, saying the money used in the process of collecting and transporting it to Windhoek or Walvis Bay will be less than the money from the sale of the mopane worms.
She added that it would be better if they would just consume the mopane worms at home.
At Otjongoro, collectors have to pay N$100 per person to be permitted to collect mopane worms, while in Otjerunda, collectors where charged N$20 per collector.
Otjerunda recorded 85 collectors from the Oshana, Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions.
One 50-kilogramme bag of mopane worms is currently being sold at N$950.
Some collectors told Nampa that they sold 10-kilogram bags at N$250 each.
This year was very peaceful, as no reports of collectors getting lost or being bitten by snakes emerged.
According to collectors at Otjerunda, they were only scared of elephants as they were camping next to the earth dam where elephants drink, but they later moved to a different spot.
Nampa
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