Project to control Prosopis trees
With immediate effect, interested parties can apply for advice on the marketing and sale of Prosopis products for the areas of Ai-Ais National Park, Dreihuk, Gibeon and Mariental.The Orange-Senqu River Commission, better known as Orasecom, published a tender last Friday. This came after Orasecom managed to start financial support for this and other projects. This includes the Namibian government's help in the sustainable control of invasive alien species such as the Prosopis trees tocombat the deterioration of soil quality.
Orasecom is an advisory body for the development and use of water resources in the Orange-Senqu River Basin. This river basin is the third largest in southern Africa, covers about one million square kilometers and is shared by four countries - Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho and Botswana.
According to an Orasecom fact sheet, the community involved in harvesting Prosopis has limited knowledge about the processing and marketing of Prosopis products. The aim is therefore to equip people with skills to produce, among other things, firewood, charcoal, stakes and animal feed from the Prosopis. This also includes them learning how to enhance, package, label and market the product. They also need to be trained in marketing their products.
In addition, markets for their products have to be opened up and a company structure has to be set up under supervision. The project is expected to last six to twelve months. It will be carried out under the direct supervision of Orasecom, the Prosopis Project Steering Committee and officials from the Ministry of Forestry and Tourism. Interested parties can submit their offers until 8 June.
Years ago, studies by Dr. Ben Strohbach from the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) pointed out the ecological danger of Prosopis trees in the Gibeon area. His research shows that Prosopis trees are much thirstier than Namibia's dams and water systems can handle. The tree, originally from America and Mexico, is very effective in displacing native plant species. It primarily threatens Namibia's valuable camel thorn trees, but also has good commercial value that can be exploited.