Large-scale solutions needed for bush encroachment
Sector 'holds immense promise'
The paper draws lessons from the Bush Control and Biomass Utilisation project, implemented from 2014 to 2024.
The sheer scope of the bush encroachment problem on 45 million hectares of rangeland in Namibia calls for large-scale solutions in bush harvesting and processing.This is according to a synthesis paper that draws lessons from the bilateral Namibian-German development cooperation project, Bush Control and Biomass Utilisation (BCBU), implemented from 2014 to 2024. “Current efforts are estimated to consume less than 20% of the annually available bush biomass, not considering expansion of encroachment and regrowth.”
The paper, titled 'A Decade of Targeted Sector Development for Bush Control and Biomass Utilisation in Namibia', said bush-based value addition has emerged as a coordinated and thriving economic sector in Namibia, making substantial contributions to the national economy.
Written by Johannes Laufs, Frank Gschwender, Pekeloye Kamenye, Matthias Jäger, Ina Wilkie, Jan Theis and Asellah David from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, it added that while the sector is not as deeply rooted as traditional industries like agriculture and conventional forestry, it holds immense promise across various dimensions of national develop.
“It speaks to rangeland management and related land-use, industrialisation and investment promotion, biodiversity conservation, climate action and, ultimately, to land restoration.”
Low entry barriers
According to the paper, a particular benefit of the sector is its decentralised nature and the partially low entry barriers for producers.
It said the existing value-chain solutions can be implemented on a small-scale and yet are scalable to industrial levels. This contributes to socioeconomic development and secures livelihoods in rural areas.
It further explained that the Namibian bush-biomass sector presents a unique opportunity where ecological restoration and economic potential of natural resource utilisation intersect.
“By capitalising on the abundance of woody biomass, the Namibian bush-biomass sector has successfully turned what was once considered a problem, ‘woody plant encroachment’, into an opportunity for economic benefit and ecological restoration.”
Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in leveraging value chains and building institutional capacities for a self-sustained restoration economy, it said.
The paper noted that in the long run, bush-biomass utilisation has the potential to firmly establish itself as an economic sector at the interface of agriculture, industry and environment.
“However, this will require continuous efforts to monitor, promote and govern the sector, ensuring that the best possible balance between economic interests and ecological considerations is maintained.”
Remain responsive
Meanwhile, research found that the sector must remain responsive to evolving scientific evidence, as well as changing international sustainability requirements. According to the paper, in future, woody plant encroachment can be partially avoided and its negative consequences can be mitigated by continuous thinning.
“However, given the magnitude of the land cover changes and the impact of global drivers, such as climate change, the trend will most likely not be reversed.”
It noted that it is thus imperative to transform land-use systems and adapt them to the existence of woody encroachment. In future, targeted measures to reduce woody encroachment and enhance ecosystem services in selected areas will coexist with land-use concepts that embrace the existence of high bush densities.