Oliver Rust is the founder and Managing Director of Namib Desert Jojoba. Their project «Jojoba for Namibia Trust» empowers women in desert areas to run their own Jojoba plantation and establish themselves as vendors of prime quality jojoba seed oil to the European cosmetics industry. In our interview, Oliver tells us why we need to take action to solve the wealth gap issue and how he started in his backyard.
Oliver, please tell us about yourself.
My name is Oliver Rust. I am a fourth generation German-Namibian. My great grandfather came here in 1900 as a farmer. We have been farmers ever since. In the last thirty years, we have also opened a travel lodge for tourists and a small touring office offering Safaris. I am married, we have two daughters and we live in Swakopmund, a coastal town in the Namib desert. This is also where we started the project «JOJOBA for NAMIBIA».
What is the story of «JOJOBA for NAMIBIA»?
When I took over my uncle’s farm in Swakopmund, there had already been some few jojoba shrubs – old ones. Out of curiosity, I pressed the oil from the seeds and sent a sample of it to a beauty company in Germany. The oil apparently made such an impression, shortly after the two directors of that company got on a plane and came over. Turns out, the Namibian desert soil and climate produce oil of excellent quality. The idea was born: I wanted to make this a business opportunity for the local Namibians in the rural areas. Instead of creating a huge plantation run by me, I wanted to provide local individuals with their own plot of land and train them in the cultivation of Jojoba seed oil. We’ve come a long way: Re-Registering these plots of unallocated desert land to individuals requires diplomatic efforts with the government and the local chiefs; also, we all had to learn about jojoba cultivation first, but it’s all coming together. A first jojoba plantation, which is completely run and owned by a local woman, is running. It’s fantastic to see how the people embrace the new perspectives.
You train and work mostly with women. Why?
(laughs) If a woman makes money, the money goes into the household, the family and the children’s education. If a man makes money, it goes wherever.
Can you tell us about Namibia?
Namibia is a nation of immigrants. Apart from the San ethnicity, who are regarded as the natives of Namibia, the entire rest of the population has immigrated. Europeans from colonial times, along with many tribes – Damara, Herrero and others – from Africa. In my eyes, Namibia is exemplary in how all the different ethnicities come together. While everyone lives and celebrates their heritage proudly, we all primarily identify as Namibians. An example in my case: when Germany plays against Namibia in the world cup, we all root for Namibia.
Is there anything that is divisive in Namibia?
We suffer from economic issues. There have been recent corruption scandals, there’s a wide gap across the wealth divide and there’s a rural exodus from the countryside to the cities. Three quarters of Namibia is desert. We are tremendously dependent on imports as we have little domestic production. Namibia is rich on commodities – uranium, gold, diamonds – but those are in the hands of international mining companies. Without any resource in the rural areas, people migrate to the cities in hope for abundant opportunities. In the competitive urban environment and without higher education, they find themselves at the bottom of society. Often, they end up in informal housing and labor situations; once in there, it is tremendously difficult to get out.
We all live in our own perceived world. When working together, you start living in the other person’s world.
What’s your take on the consequences of wealth inequality in a society?
It’s a ticking time bomb, obviously. What would you do, if you couldn’t find a way out of poverty? If you’ve tried it all and nothing works, non-legal means to get by naturally become an option. Rising crime rates, hunger, poverty, illness; if a large part of society is desperate and sees no way out, at some point it will explode and then, people will be marching on the streets. Everybody is aware of this and everybody has an elaborate opinion on it; but who has actually done something to start change in his or her social environment?
What made you commit to helping others?
I think helping others also helps you. The wealth gap keeps growing and you can’t just keep pointing fingers forever. Instead, you can take a stance and start working with the opportunities in your vicinity. I believe individual efforts and initiatives can achieve a lot in their sum.
What was your biggest take-away?
I was surprised to see how people working on the farms have grown beyond themselves and and are taking initiative; how a feeling of togetherness has developed and also how much we laugh together – about topics that we would have never talked about before, because we all live in our own perceived world. When working together, you start living in the other person’s world; you start seeing another point of view and you learn from each other; even better, people start taking pride in sharing their culture with you. We are now six different ethnicities working together. It’s an achievement.
What advice would you give to people who want to get active but don’t know how?
They should invest in our project! (laughs) In all seriousness, I think there are many amazing projects in this world. You should look into initiatives even if you think it’s just a mere drop in the ocean. You don’t have to save the entire world at once, you can start with small things. Also, pay attention to the origins of products and look at their supply chain. Yes, we do have a wealth gap in Namibia, but this wealth gap also exists on the global scale. Find the appreciation in the things that you consume and try to see where the real value is generated. There are many opportunities to fix that supply chain.
Last question: Are you optimistic about the future?
Yes. Firstly, I have seen first-hand the change that we’ve made, and I see how much we can still do in the future. Also, the support from abroad has touched me. Besides the Julius Baer Foundation, many individuals have committed to the project. In Switzerland, people have founded the «Jojoba für Afrika Verein Schweiz». They are investing their time on a voluntary basis, expanding the association and recruiting new members. Their commitment is inspiring.
Read from the local farmer:
Esther Katjohange is one of the women learning all about Jojoba cultivation and developing her new entrepreneurial endeavour. Read her take on wealth inequality here.
