Home
/
BOSKOS

The Bush Based Animal Feed Pilot Project

LOCATION

Namibia

Project Developer / Owner

MAWF/GIZ Support to De-bushing Project

SECTOR

Solid Biomass; Natural Resource Management; Value Addition

PROJECT TIMELINE

2016 – 2018

As part of the national programme for bush control, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) implemented the Support to De-bushing Project in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). With the aim to provide affordable solutions to combating bush encroachment for farmers in communal and commercial areas, the project developed value chain opportunities. If bush material is not only removed, but also used for value added products, this can finance the bush harvesting. One of the identified value chain opportunities is bush based animal feed production, which holds great potential for the agricultural sector.

iDEALX has built the capacity and knowledge to provide livestock breeders and producers with scientific and pragmatic suppport they need. iDEALX can provide you with customised expertise for your situation due to having advised various producers with different realities across Africa, including in South Africa, Somaliland and Ethopia.

Outcome and Impact

The results of the bush based animal feeding trials were promising and suggested that bush feed can be used not only as an emergency drought feed, but also as a supplementary feed throughout the year and in feedlots. However, the feasibility of bush based feed will depend on the inclusion rate of bush biomass, the type and quantity of supplement used, as these factors influence the cost/benefit ratio of feed production.