The Berg Aukas Youth Skills Training Centre has launched an oyster mushroom project aimed at empowering local youth. The initiative, introduced under the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, currently employs five young people and supplies fresh produce to the surrounding community.
Production began in September 2025, and the centre has also started selling mushroom spawn as part of its income-generating activities. Berg Aukas becomes the sixth Youth Skills Training Centre to benefit from the ministry's mushroom production start-up toolkit, joining Okahao, Frans Dimbare, Omuthiya, Khorixas and Usakos.
Located 15 kilometres outside Grootfontein on the road to Rundu, the Berg Aukas Youth Skills Training Centre is one of several facilities established to provide practical skills to out-of-school and unemployed young people who do not meet the entry requirements for conventional vocational training centres.
The Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service operates five main youth skills training centres nationwide — Berg Aukas (Otjozondjupa), Kai//Ganaxab (Hardap), Frans Dimbare (Kavango East), Okahao (Omusati) and Farm Du Plessis (Omaheke). These centres offer training in various trades to equip young people with employable skills and enable them to pursue self-employment opportunities.
Read more at Informante
