Namibia's farming lands are among the driest and most unpredictable to be found. Perhaps for that reason, its farmers rely on mahangu (pearl millet) to provide the basic foods to keep their families fed. In the north of the country, where two-thirds of the population live, it is the staple.

In the past, Namibia's farmers could hope to obtain only about 300 kg of grain per hectare—a pitifully small amount. Indeed, production was so low that the country had to import maize to feed its people.

In 1986, however, the country asked ICRISAT for help, and 50 highly productive varieties were brought in and planted out for testing. In March 1987, at the new nation's first "Farmers' Field Day," approximately 100 farmers came to see the results. The variety Okashana 1 proved particularly impressive even though the rainfall that season had been only 170 mm (but well distributed). Namibia then requested 200 kg of Okashana 1 seed for multiplication, large-scale testing, and demonstration to farmers. At the March 1988 Farmers' Field Day, 250 visitors showed up to buy Okashana seed. A year later, more than 500 farmers came, and they bought about 4 tons of the seed.

Since this new variety's arrival, Namibia's farmers have reaped bumper harvests. Even using traditional cultivation practices, they doubled their yields. But those who employed better methods obtained yields of 2.4 tons per hectare, about eight times the traditional amount.

Okashana 1 results from intensive plant breeding at ICRISAT, but it still retains its rustic resilience and is especially suited to subsistence farmers' needs. Among its characteristics are high grain yield, large seed size, early maturity, resistance to downy mildew, and ability to mature grain even when end-of-season droughts rob the plants of moisture.

According to Wolfgang Lechner, of the Mahanene Research Station at Oshkati, more than half of Namibia's pearl-millet farmers now grow the new variety. "Okashana 1 gives a light-colored flour that is highly acceptable," Lechner explains. "With this and the increased yields, within a couple of years the country may not have to rely on maize imports any more. That will save us a lot of valuable foreign exchange.''