Our Stories
Intensive Agriculture in Closure Plans to Provide Food Security
September 21, 2022
B2Gold’s Otjikoto Mine in Namibia provides an ideal opportunity for proactive mine closure planning. Through the construction and operation phases, we have been working on rehabilitation activities and developing solutions for post-mining scenarios.
Farm Erhardtshof, one of the private commercial farms purchased to develop the mine, has been cultivating intensive agricultural production, with support from an agricultural specialist and Namib Mills, the largest grain processing company in Namibia and a large employer in the neighbouring town of Otavi. The first harvest in 2021 produced 12.87 tons of maize per hectare and 220 bales of Katambora Rhodes grass. Katambora Rhodes grass tolerates warm temperatures and saline soils and is a popular animal feed.
The eventual aim is to establish 90 ha of land under pivot irrigation – a method of crop irrigation in which equipment rotates around a pivot and crops are watered with sprinklers. With this method Farm Erhardtshof can produce 1,000 tons of maize and 700 tons of wheat annually and make a significant contribution to Namibian food security. Successful approaches can be shared with the surrounding communities and Farm Erhardtshof’s agricultural production can be integrated into post-closure plans for the site.
