The Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism has urged farmers at Otjimboyo Conservancy in Erongo's Dâures Constituency to diversify production systems and adapt to climate change.

Pohamba Shifeta made this call during the handing over ceremony of a garden project there.
 
The Otjimboyo Conservancy is located at the foot of the Brandberg mountain, approximately 40 kilometres north of Uis in the Erongo Region.

The settlement is home to about 342 inhabitants, who bear the brunt of drought owing to climate change.
 
The Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism says small farmers have the potential to contribute to national food security and eventually economic growth.
 
This project will therefore open up new avenues for the inhabitants to sustainably live in a desert area.

He added that it is in the best interest of the country to promote and conserve natural resources through community-based natural resource management as a model of food production.

Conservancies empower and train locals, and improve their livelihoods.