Another invention from Creative Entrepreneurs Solutions

Creative Entrepreneurs Solutions (CES) has embarked on yet another creative invention that will benefit the communities of the northern regions.
Established in 2008, the company is a non-profit Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) which relies on grants to assist communities organise Self-Help Groups and individuals to develop their own ideas and unlock local potential opportunities.

Working closely with a network of community coordinator volunteers, Creative Entrepreneurs Solutions is well known for establishing the famous EzyStove, an energy efficient stove that has won numerous international awards for its contribution towards sustainable development and climate change adaptation.
Creative Entrepreneurs Solutions’ focus on adaptation includes climate smart agriculture (conservation agriculture and micro drip irrigation), energy efficiency, water harvesting and inland aquaculture and has already implemented the United Nations Development Program(UNDP) Global Environmental Funds- Small Grant Programme (UNDP GEF-SGP) Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change pilot programme (2009-2013) and other adaptation projects funded by the Africa Adaptation project as well as the Country Pilot Partnership (CPP)Programme for Integrated Sustainable Land Management (ISLM).
According to CEO of Creative Entrepreneurs Solutions, Marie Johansson, the organisation is currently sub-contracted by the Cooperative League of the USA (CLUSA) International to implement the Namibia Conservation Agriculture Project (NCAP) which is targeting 10,800 farmers in six regions in the northern parts of the country.”This is a training project where lead farmers are trained and mentored to train their neighbours on climate smart agriculture methods such as conservation tillage and the hand-hoe basin method. We also train tractor drivers and animal traction service providers,” said Johansson.
Johansson added that the organisation has previously collaborated with schools in the rural areas to implement conservation agriculture and micro drip irrigation of vegetables and also teaching them how to produce food at an early age . “The learners have also shown a remarkable improvement in their Agriculture and Life Science subjects because of the practical experience they acquired on soil improvement methods,” she said.
Johansson admits that at first many people had doubts on adopting the projects but soon started adopting the strategies after the benefits were evaluated.”We are very grateful to the regional councilors as many of them are active in promoting adaptation strategies such as conservation tillage and restoration of traditional wells for water harvesting, as well as expressing support for the scaling-up of the EzyStove,” Johansson noted.
“We are looking forward to participating in the scaling-up of a lot of adaptation strategies together with 4000 households, which are mainly female and orphan headed, in a programme that is currently under development by the UNDP and the GEF. We are also in the process of establishing start-up capital for scaling-up the EzyStove to 200,000 households and to create 300 stove assembly and sales jobs for women and youth nationwide,” said Johansson.
Besides implementing projects, the organisation also supervises six students a year from tertiary institutions when conducting research. One such student, Jacob Cranz, invented a Marula Cracker device that makes extracting kernel from marula seeds easier and much safer. “The device has become a favourite amongst the local women because they find it easier to use. We have already sold 20 devices so far and have received an order of 30 more devices,” said Johansson.