BACKGROUND

The “De-bushing Advisory Service” (DAS) is an important capacity-building aspect of the support to de-bushing project. DAS is a national information platform and focal point for questions relating to bush encroachment, bush thinning and value addition to bush. We address the knowledge and information needs of farmers interested in bush control on their farmland, connect with operators of and investors in bush biomass processing machines and plants, The development of DAS emerged from a demand survey undertaken among farmers to assess their advisory need.

Our aim is to support Namibian actors and development partners of Namibia to turn the widespread challenge of bush encroachment into socio-economic opportunities – thereby increasing rangeland productivity and supporting an emerging biomass industry. Our work is closely linked to existing agricultural, forestry and environmental advisory and extension services, both public and private, leveraging synergies where applicable.

The De-bushing Advisory Service was developed as part of the GIZ Support to De-bushing Project in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.