Providing safe, reliable and affordable fresh water.
Namibia is an arid country that is regularly afflicted by droughts. In order to confront this challenge, the country has built dams to capture the flow from ephemeral rivers, and constructed pipelines to transport water over large distances. Most urban residents have access to drinking water supply, but access lags behind in rural areas.
In 2017, Oliver Rust founded Jojoba for Namibia Trust as a not for profit organisation. Its aim is to support women in dry desert areas to build up their own jojoba plantations and harvesting centres and become a part of the whole value chain. Through its workshops and knowledge transfer, the new farmers gain the skills required to succeed.
Jojoba for Namibia enables women to develop from small-scale farmers into entrepreneurs on a global marketplace. Jojoba is the ideal desert plant, as it only requires little water, it loves high temperatures and it is low in maintenance. Some of their farms are located in the vicinity of the Omdel Dam, where only brackish groundwater is available. The jojoba plants and the farming grounds struggle with the saltwater. Without fresh water, it’s not possible to grow healthy seedlings and scale up the farms.
We are pleased to turn the brackish groundwater in the desert of this arid region into fresh water that can be used for drinking water and irrigation and trust that this will benefit the impact of Jojoba for Namibia.
Namibia.
Sustainable water supply in Namibia by off-grid solar desalination.
“Water quality has always been a pre-requisite for our developments. Not only does this account for human consumption, but also as an enabler for agricultural projects. In the past, the various activities revolving around our “Omdel Dam -Project” have always been hampered by the availability of fresh quality water. Fortunately, this has become a problem of the past.
Working with Elemental Water Makers has been an absolute pleasure. Their proactive approach and support throughout the various project phases enabled us to implement a no-nonsense solution in one of the most arid places on this planet. Installation was quick and easy with results which exceeded our imagination. Thank you at Elemental Water Makers for enabling life in the desert!”
Project media.
Solar desalination in the desert.
The Jojoba Farm.
Water use for growing.
Water storage and solar desal.
Trained operator.
Happy water users.
Watering the Jojoba.
The site.
