"We will go into the rural areas to ask farmers … about rodent problems.

Are they are threat to them?" says Seth Eiseb of the National Museum of Namibia, who is Namibia's co-ordinator for the project, known as Ecorat.

The aim of the Ecorat project is to develop ecologically based rodent management in southern Africa by investigating the rodent problems affecting small-scale farmers in the region.

Ecologically based rodent management is increasingly seen as more sustainable, both economically and environmentally, than the traditional use of poisons.

Eiseb says it has been found that rodents can transmit more than 60 diseases, and the symptoms of some of them could be confused with malaria.

It is therefore important to raise awareness and gather accurate information about the health risks posed by and the extent of the crop damage caused by rodents in Namibia.

The three-year research project is being funded by the European Union (EU).

The Namibian share of the funding amounts to 100 000 euros (N$1 million).

Eiseb said the project will start with a workshop for farmers in the Popa Falls area of the Kavango Region, where they will introduce the project to the farmers and get information from them on what impact rodents have on their farms.

The workshop will be held from March 25 to 26.

The Ecorat project is co-ordinated by scientists at the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich in the UK, and involves organisations in Swaziland, Tanzania, South Africa and Namibia.

The international Ecorat project started with an inception workshop at the University of Greenwich in January, which was attended by scientists from the four countries.

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