Farmers get help with bush control

Namibian farmers will benefit from more training and information on how to control encroaching bush on their farms and how to make use of the biomass. This is according to the former executive director of the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU), Mushokabanji Mwilima. Mwilima was appointed as the CEO of Meatco from 1 February. He was speaking at the recent signing of an agreement between the NNFU and the De-bushing Advisory Service (DAS) on initiatives to strengthen the utilisation of bush biomass in communal areas. The two parties are collaborating on capacity development through training, exposure visits, farmer information days and mentoring in bush control and biomass utilisation and piloting of bush-based value chains. This includes animal feed production, developing training materials and disseminating best practices on bush harvesting. Furthermore, they will collaborate on developing monitoring and evaluation data collection tools for tracking and verifying bush harvesting compliance in pilot areas, as well as creating awareness through documentaries and mass media. This will be done in close cooperation with farmers' associations in communal areas of Namibia. DAS has since 2016 been strongly involved in the biomass sector with an emphasis on capacity development for both individual farmers, government officials and the industry at large. A number of training initiatives are among the ongoing activities that DAS pursues in partnership with local stakeholders. These activities are part of the GIZ-funded Bush Control and Biomass Utilisation Project, which supports the agriculture ministry in promoting the sustainable utilisation of bush biomass for rangeland restoration. “Although there are some regulatory challenges in implementing sustainable bush control and biomass utilisation in communal areas which our partners are on, the cooperation with NNFU is vital to ensure that we reach out to every farmer affected by bush encroachment. The emphasis of this cooperation is anchored on tangible bush control activities for inclusivity,” said the general manager of DAS, Progress Kashandula. The NNFU executive director further highlighted the importance of the longstanding partnership with GIZ through various programmes. “DAS was the missing link; we are privileged to sign this MoU,” said Mwilima.STAFF REPORTER

Farmers get help with bush control

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Farmers get help with bush control

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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