‘This project was one of the cornerstone initiatives supporting governments efforts to combat bush encroachment in Namibia, and we are going to miss it. It played a pivotal role in shaping strategies and approaches on bush control and enhancing the capacities of farmers and entrepreneurs to create value chains,’ said Timoteus Mufeti, Environmental Commissioner, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism at the closure event of the ‘Bush Control and Biomass Utilisation’ (BCBU) project.
The project launched in 2014 as the ‘Support to Debushing Project’ and wraps up this month, after 10 years of implementation. The BCBU project promoted the sustainable utilisation of encroacher bush-based biomass, thereby contributing to rangeland restoration and economic development in Namibia. ‘The way that government institutions, civil society, academia and private sector have aligned their interests around the topic of bush encroachment is unique. As a development partner, we take pride in the achievements and fruitful cooperation with the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture over the past decade on this project,’ Ulrike Metzger, Head of Development Cooperation of the German Embassy pointed out.
Over the past 10 years, the biomass sector in the country has experienced enormous change. A decade ago, farmers were isolated in their struggle to ‘de-bush’ their land, to improve grazing, groundwater recharge and biodiversity. Today, Namibia is seeing a paradigm shift: from ‘de-bushing’ to ‘bush control and biomass utilisation’. What was once considered only a problem now also presents an opportunity.
Employment in bush harvesting and processing has doubled from 6,000 to 12,000 between 2016 and 2024. The charcoal value chain has increased six-fold in terms of revenue. Animal feed based on milled encroacher bush is being produced on farms and substitutes imported commercial feeds. More than 900 farmers produced bush-based animal feed for 120,000 animals during the 2019 drought. A wood-plastic-composite factory started production in Windhoek, producing flooring material from wood and recycled plastic and a broad array of further value addition opportunities is being explored. The new star on the horizon is biochar, a product similar to charcoal but made from smaller branches.
The BCBU project placed a strong emphasis on collaboration with government, the private sector, academia, farmers’ unions and civil society. Johannes Laufs, team leader of the BCBU project, thanked the guests: ‘Without our project stakeholders there would have been no impact. Every single one of the 12,000 jobs in the bush-biomass sector was created by the private sector. Every single decision that helped to create a conducive environment, was taken by government. We have supported, promoted, enabled. You have achieved impact.’
The BCBU project also supported the formulation of national policy and strategy frameworks for the bush-biomass sector, most notably the National Strategy on the Sustainable Management of Bush Resources 2022-2027 (MEFT 2022).
Lessons learned show that it was extremely beneficial for the governance of the sector to establish a Steering Committee, which was chaired by the National Planning Commission and included a wide representation from public sector institutions including agriculture, environment, industry, energy, labour and private sector stakeholders.
At the onset of the project, lack of knowledge transfer and documentation of good practices was The bilateral Bush Control and Biomass Utilisation project was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in cooperation with the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) from 2014 to 2024.
Handover of the Bush Control and Biomass Utilisation Project ‘knowledge box’ to the Director of Forestry; from left to right: Mrs Pekeloye Kamenye – Senior Advisor (GIZ BCBU Project), Ms Ulrike Metzger – Head of Development Cooperation (German Embassy), Mr Johnson Ndokosho – Director of Forestry (MEFT) and Mr Johannes Laufs – Team Leader (GIZ BCBU Project
