A series of videos has been launched as part of a project titled 'Namibia: A New Dataset for Rangeland and Pasture Management'.
A series of videos has been launched as part of a project titled 'Namibia: A New Dataset for Rangeland and Pasture Management'.

Joint project to fight bush encroachment

Series of informative videos launched
The videos highlight the urgency of addressing these challenges and emphasise the importance of sustainable pasture management strategies.
STAFF REPORTER
A project consortium - consisting of the University of Namibia (Unam), Farm4Trade, Omeva Consulting, AgriConsult Namibia and Agriecological Services - is pleased to announce the launch of a series of informative videos that showcase the ground-breaking methodology and behind-the-scenes content for the project 'Namibia: A New Dataset for Rangeland and Pasture Management'.

These videos aim to generate awareness and support for the project’s mission to revolutionise pasture management strategies in Namibia.

With the support of the Lacuna Fund, an American institution committed to advancing machine learning tools in low and middle-income contexts, the consortium has collaborated to showcase this informative campaign to highlight the social value of the project and its potential to address critical challenges faced by Namibia’s agricultural sector.



Importance

Namibia’s rangelands and ecosystems confront significant threats, including soil erosion, land degradation and biodiversity loss, which pose risks to local food security and rangeland health.

The videos highlight the urgency of addressing these challenges and emphasise the importance of sustainable pasture management strategies. It showcases the innovative approach of the dataset in collecting and georeferencing data from various regions in Namibia, which will provide valuable insights to farmers and communities for effective rangeland management, planning and mitigation.

The project, initiated by Farm4Trade, a company dedicated to enhancing productivity and traceability in the zootechnical industry, brings together local experts and institutions to develop a powerful dataset.

Through the videos, viewers gain a deeper understanding of the project's aims, methodology and the future tool’s potential to estimate carrying capacity, pasture quality and bush biomass in specific areas over designated periods.

The footage captures the collaborative efforts of local experts, field enumerators and Unam students and lecturers who actively participate in monitoring and data collection across 20 selected areas, evenly distributed throughout Namibia’s ecoregions.

The series will not only emphasise the significance of sustainable land management practices, but also highlights the project’s potential to address global challenges in the agricultural sector. The videos underscore the crucial role of equitably labelled datasets and the application of machine learning tools in advancing sustainable practices and improving food security - not only in Namibia, but also in other developing countries in southern Africa.



To watch the video and learn more about the project, visit: //youtu.be/O-OHZeua00o?si=1_sqoYn_2sX03c7R.



For any enquiries or further information, contact Raonga Kaapama at [email protected].

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Namibian Sun 2024-05-16

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 376.96/OZ DOWN -0.0063 | Copper US$ 4.84/lb DOWN -0.0108 | Zinc US$ 2 979.80/T DOWN -0.15% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 83.81/BBP UP +0.65% | Platinum US$ 1 061.11/OZ DOWN -0.0082