Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
The pilot project is part of a bigger multi-year project called the poverty alleviation
project (PAP). This is an anchor project of the Muslim Judicial Council Poverty
Eradication Project. PAP was established to explore and exploit the opportunity
in the agriculture sector for food, security job creation and wealth creation for the
poor and marginalized.
The AgRIC is directly linked to a government built and owned fresh produce
market which requires the evolution of 2500 new farmers to produce from
5000 hectares of land. The AgRIC is currently training a batch of 14 emerging
farmers on 4 hectare of land. The emerging farmers produce is directly sold
to the market.
The Pilot project is not a stand-alone project but an auxiliary to the AgRIC.
The pilot project complements the capacity of the AgRIC to help fulfill its
mandate to the beneficiaries and deepen the quality of benefit.
The emerging farmer produce is destined for the market directly from the
ground. As it will take some time before the quality of their produce
and economies of scale can compete with that of the established
commercial farmers, their return from their sales will remain minimal.
One of the negative consequences of this situation is that agriculture
will not be an attractive economic activity for the marginalized
communities nor will it be a viable career option for the youth.
Furthermore the trainee farmers face a major challenge in
establishing new markets and making sustained profits with produce
that has not been graded, packed or preserved before marketing.
2.2 Proposal
Implementing Organizations
Organization Contribution
Results
Some members of the Cape Town team pose in front of the pack shed constructed
with funds from the RUAF CFF Project at the pilot project site
The farmer mentorship programme has been on-going since July 2008.
The farmers were exposed to a practical mentorship training whereby they
received hands-on tuition from an experienced farmer.
The outreach programme started rather late in the project duration. Due to
the late implementation of the pilot, the capacity to reach out by the 14
farmers was only achieved after three months of training. The project
implementors then decided that it was going to benefit more farmers if the
reached out to community gardens rather than individual farmers. The
following farmers benefited and continue to benefit from the farmer
outreach training and support:
Name of Group Male Farmers Female Farmers
Nonkululeko, Gugulethu 2 9
Siyazakha, Langa 0 6
Kwakanye, Langa 2 1
Zenihlale, Gugulethu 3 7
TOTAL 7 23
Increased Incomes
When asked whether their household financial situation was better, worse or the
same in October as it was in September, all 10 interviewed farmers said that their
household financial situation was better in October. Many said that it was much
better.
“It was much better in October, as I earned R1000 instead of R740 and I
could send more money to my mother.”
“It was better in October, because in September there were days when we
were without food and we had to ask others for help. But in October, it
was better and we had food.”
“It was much better in October, because I was able to pay for more
things.”
“My income was slightly more in October, but my usual expenses were the
same, so I could spoil myself.”
During the focus group held with all 14 MJC farmers in October, the farmers were
asked whether the project provides them with any resources to enable them to
farm and, if so, what resources are provided. All 14 farmers agreed that the
project does indeed provide them with productive resources. The resources that
they have access to through the project are:
Land
Water
Seeds
Compost
Tools
Tractor
The farmers agreed that these resources are easily accessible and that the
project allows them to make use of whichever items they feel they need when
they need them. In this way, the project has indeed provided the farmers with
resources that they can use in order to successfully produce outputs and
generate income.
Farmers work at the training centre at MJC as part of the hands-on training
Explications
The factors that have influenced the achievement of the results are varied
and include the following:
Close monitoring by the other stakeholders in the city
including the City of Cape Town, partner NGOs, University
of Cape Town, and support from the regional RUAF team.
Practical benefits received by the farmers through stipends,
farm produce, benefit sharing, and satisfaction through
increased knowledge and capabilities
Moral support from recent developments in the region that
have raised the profile of UA such as the recent food riots,
and the setting up of complimentary bodies such as the
Southern Africa Urban Food Security Project
Availability of additional resources through the city council,
government departments, and NGOs.
The pilot project dovetailed into the City of Cape Town urban agriculture policy
that seeks to practically support the emergence of farmers from merely
subsistence to a level of market orientation.
It also motivated the establishment and regular meeting of the multi-stakeholder
forum on UA in the Phillipi area.
The pilot project has also motivated the finalization of the UA Strategic Agenda
that has been prepared by the stakeholders and discussed by the forum.
Monitoring
The results were monitored at three levels. At the first level, the implementing
organization was supposed to submit monthly progress reports to the regional
RUAF team and to the Cape Town team. At the second level the Cape Town
team and the RUAF team periodically visited the pilot project site in order to
verify progress reports. At the third and more technical and rigorous level, a
consultant from University of Cape Town did the Impact Monitoring.
Of the three, the third level of Impact Monitoring was the most effective and
regular. The consultant was contracted and paid by RUAF and was therefore
under obligation. The report also appears the most objective since it was purely
scientific in approach and was independent.
Government and other partners in Cape Town are already involved providing additional
equipment and resources to the project. This tractor was provided by government
The results can also be replicated. Already the MJC is recruiting other farmers to
be trained once the current „trainees‟ have graduated and move onto their land.
The city is already considering setting up another farmer agriculture resource
centre with relevant government departments. The organic farming movement is
gaining moment spearheaded by some members of the MSF. The outreach to
farmers is already being conducted by Abalimi and therefore should also expand.
The project results will therefore be certain to be replicated.
Finances
The whole RUAF budget of Euro 14 000 was disbursed and has been used up.
The financial report is being finalized by the project implementors.