Desalinated boreholes bring relief to farmers

Farmer have become major beneficiaries of the desalinated boreholes at Petrusfontein through a water softening project headed by the Environmental Investment Fund (EIF) over the last four years.
As a result, community members now have access to fresh water.
The community, situated about 16 kilometres outside of Fransfontein in the Kunene region, survives mainly on animal farming.
One of the locals, Hendrete Swartbooi, says the water they had been consuming over the years was very salty, but they had no other options but to drink it.
“We just had to drink it because it was the only borehole, but at least with the new desalinated boreholes, our water tastes just like mineral water,” Swartbooi says.
She adds that this has reduced costs for farmers, as the salty water is now pumped into a river where the livestock can drink.
“Because the water already has salt, we don’t need to buy salt blocks for the cattle anymore,” Swartbooi says.
The community has over 25 households, each with at least three people.
Another community member who has been living in the area for more than 40 years, Audrey !Howases, says the initiative made her feel seen as a citizen, adding that the government should visit the area more often.
She says because their community is far from the towns, they cannot go to the shops to buy mineral water for drinking.
“It is a really good initiative and we appreciate it. Now we at least also feel like citizens in the country,” !Howases says. However, she says during the rainy season it is difficult to get water from the borehole because it is solar powered.
Investment fund spokesperson Romeo Muyunda says the initiative was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform, which allocated N$40 million to support the planning and design of appropriate, site-specific water treatment solutions.
The project aimed to provide access to safe and potable water for rural communities.
“The programme originated as an EIF-led innovation and pilot project in 2022, aimed at responding to longstanding water access challenges affecting rural communities,” Muyunda says.
Seventeen borehole sites were covered under the project and implemented in two phases. Phase one addressed 13 sites across the ||Kharas, Kunene, Ohangwena, Kavango East, Kavango West and Zambezi regions. Meanwhile, Phase two focused on four additional sites in the Oshikoto region.

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