Africa-Press – Botswana. A group of youth entrepreneurs and graduates from Mabudutsa ward in Maun are undergoing training on saline water treatment for aquaculture and horticulture projects.
The five-day training which started on Tuesday provides participants with practical knowledge and hands-on experience in converting saline water into a resource that supports food production, livelihood enhancement, and climate resilience.
Dr Clifford Fedler, a professor and expert from Texas Tech University, who specialises in sustainable water management technologies, facilitates the training. It is organised by North West District Council in collaboration with Mabudutsa Village Development Committee (VDC) and Mandela Washington Fellowship alumni, Mr Gregory Rakobe, an agricultural research and PhD candidate at Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN).
Mabudutsa community development officer, Ms Lesego Puss revealed in an interview that about 17 young people were being equipped with affordable and sustainable water treatment techniques suitable for fish farming and horticulture. The initiative, she said, was part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Exchange Program supported by the United States Department of State, noting that it aimed to address water scarcity challenges while advancing economic opportunities for the people of Ngamiland. She acknowledged that alumni Mr Rakobe identified Mabudutsa VDC to work with, hence the training to build local capacity in addressing one of the pressing challenge, water salinity, which limits agriculture productivity and income generation. Ms Puss said many farmers had deserted their farming fields because of water salinity. She said many boreholes in the region were producing salty water due to a combination of factors that included limited freshwater sources, high salinity in ground water, agricultural activities and believed this training would come in handy to foster local solutions to food security and water challenges in Ngamiland. Ms Puss is of the view that the training would provide innovative solutions that participants could apply to ensure their projects flourish, citing that some who were into aquaculture were losing hope because the fish was dying. Furthermore, she said some participants were graduates who were idling because of limited job opportunities and believed that through the training, they would grasp some business ideas and venture into income generating enterprises and eventually create employment for fellow youths.
For his part, the facilitator Dr Fedler shared some technological solutions and ideas that participants could think of and decide, which affordable businesses they could venture into.
Although some of the projects he shared were not practiced in Botswana, he believed participants could consider exploring them to make a living, appreciating that they were innovators and the future of the country. He said it was critical to come up with projects that were affordable, maintainable, reliable and simple, noting that equipment used for desalinating water process was very expensive.
Dr Fedler also shared technological solutions for aquaculture, waste management and increasing fresh water among others and emphasised the need to adapt to resources available.
Kgosi Mokadi Masedi of Habu village thanked the facilitator for sharing insightful information, saying he has more interest in saline system and how they could address the root cause of salinity.
The district, he said hosted a prestigious resource, the Okavango Delta, which he said was a sensitive ecosystem that needed to be protected at all cost.
He expressed concern about waste management systems in the region, saying they were open and attracting animals to drink wastewater and stressed the need to think of ways to improve such systems.
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