ABOUT 26 million hectares of land in Namibia is not usable for farming because it is covered with invader bush, and embarking on large-scale bush-clearing projects would require a major investment of about N$5,2 billion, Agriculture Minister Nickey Iyambo has disclosed.

He was responding to questions from DTA politician McHenry Venaani in Parliament recently.

A bush-clearing project would entail the construction of a power generator to be fed with invader bush to produce electricity, he said.

A study is underway and will be completed in June.

"The study costs about N$1,9 million, but 80 per cent of the cost is covered by Finland."

"The annual losses to the Namibian economy due to the areas lost for production because they are covered with unwanted aggressive bush species come to N$700 million per year," Iyambo added.

Grazing was impossible in such areas, so is ploughing for the cultivation of fields.

Protected and useful wood species had difficulty to grow.

The cost of bush clearing and setting up projects has been calculated at N$200 per hectare, the Minister said.

"Although this may not be undertaken at once but in stages, for us to address the problem would require large investments from both Government and the private sector."

However, once projects were in place, up to 10 000 jobs could be created.

The existing charcoal production from invader bush could also be expanded, serving a two-fold purpose.

"Charcoal production reduces bush encroachment and Namibian charcoal is exported to Europe," Iyambo added.

"Our Ministry is also collaborating with the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is experimenting with the production of fire [braai] blocks from invader bush collected through bush clearing.

We found that producing fire blocks seems to be more promising compared to charcoal production because fire blocks utilise the whole bush."

The private agricultural sector has in the meantime applied to the European Union for funding of bush clearing under the EU rural poverty reduction programme.

The request is receiving attention from the EU, Iyambo told the House.