Likwaterera community receive Moringa plantation to boost natural resources, eradicate poverty
The Likwaterera community in Rundu Rural officially received 10 hectares of land of which half was used for the Moringa Plantation.
The Moringa production site project is part of the government’s efforts to sustain natural resources and eradicate poverty in the country.
Over 60 households have so far benefited from the project and can generate income by supplying and supplementing the Moringa harvest at the main plantation hub.
The Minister of Environment Forestry and Tourism Pohamba Shifeta who handed over the project said he was delighted that communities in the Kavango East Region are still keen on using natural resources, biodiversity, and traditional knowledge to improve their livelihoods.
“The project is being handed over under the theme ‘Unleashing the potential of Climate Change Strategy for Likwaterera Community Forest’ and is focused on scaling up the organic production of the Moringa oleifera as a form of diversification of livelihoods and sustainable community development,” said Shifeta.
The project was funded to the tune of N$5,299,539.25 under the Ecosystem-Based Adaptation investment window under the Empower to Adapt (EDA) project, which is centered around Creating Climate Change Resilient Livelihoods through Community Based Natural Resource Management in Namibia (CBNRM EDA Project).
The Likwaterera Community Forest covers an area of 13790 ha and is highly affected by deforestation, and land degradation which has resulted in low productivity of forest resources and consequently low income for the community.
To date, a ten-hector piece of land has been fenced off, with five hectares under the Moringa plantation and the project has successfully constructed a Moringa processing warehouse, installed five times 10,000 litres tanks, and procured an animal feed processing machine to benefit this project.
