F4CJ Survey and focus group Report

F4CJ: CASE STUDY 1

MAHLATHINI DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

promote conservation agriculture and its principles, i.e. minimumsoil disturbance, permanent soil cover

and crop diversification in order to increase productivity, improve soil health and increase the

sustainability of these farming systems. Beyond the CA program MDF has also worked on a number of

climate resilient agriculture (CSA) programs which also focus on working in harmony with nature

instead of againstit. One such project is the WRC CSA project where theorganisation developed a

Decision Support System (DSS) as atool for farmers to use when deciding what to plant, when and

how, depending on climatic and environmental factors. In addition, the organisation supports more

than 23 village loan and savings associations (VLSA) in KZN and 7 in Limpopo to save money for

agricultural inputs and enterprises, although most of the groups support a wide range ofhousehold needs

and only asmall percentage goes back to agricultural initiatives. MDF alsoworks with a number of

RESEARCH CONTEXT

drained soils which are mostly reddish brown in colour. The yearly rainfall is above 750 mm per annum

with Ozwathini having occasional mist in summer. Some farmers ownlivestock and the men focus

more on cattle, sheep and goats while the women farm traditional chickens, broilers and layers. All

three areas are situated on communal land. Gobizembe and Mayizekanye fall under Chief Gcumisa and

Ozwathini falls under Chief Mthuli. There are local indunas in the areas who are the chiefs’ ears on the

ground and areresponsible for resolving conflict and ensuring that there is peace andharmonyin the

communities. A total of 30 farmers volunteered to be part of this research who are between the ages of

40 and 75 years old, ofwhich 95 % are women. All ofthem are unemployed and depend on social

grants, remittances and farming in order to survive.

The field workcommenced with a seriesof introductory meetings in all three areas where theproject

was formally introduced and explained to the farmers. Thereafter, they were requested to volunteer

themselves to take part, where the limit was set at 10 farmers per area. Thenames ofthe farmers who

were interested in being part of the research were then recorded.

A total of 15individual interviews were conducted across thethree areas, with 5 completed in each

area. These interviews were done during planting and were conducted by Tema, Nkanyiso and

Nontokozo from Mahlathini over a period of two days.

Subsequent to the completion ofthe individual interviews there was a focus group workshop with all

feedback session

3.Prioritization of networks according to impact (matrix ranking), breakaway groups

4.Plenary discussion: Challenges experienced in networks

4.1.Resources needed for farming/agro-ecology

4.2.Links between agro ecology and networks

5.Discussion on savings groups/stokvels, link to agro ecology

6.Plenary session: SWOT analysis to understand what inhibits and enables these groups.

RESULTS: INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS

The individual interviews brought to light that there are existing solidarity networks within the

community which were formed for various reasons, including food production, saving money and

market access. These networks serve as aknowledge bank and platform forsharing experiences and

include both formal and informal groups. The groups include local farmers’ association, savings groups

and stokvels, livestock groupsamongst others. The main purposes of thegroups is to provide

knowledge, access to resources, networking and sharing. Majority of the farmers were reluctant to share

Access to Knowledge

Two main groups were mentioned as playing a pivotal role in providing knowledge on farming and

these are the farmers’ associations and the conservation agriculture learning groups. Through the

farmers’ association, thefarmers mentioned that they were trained ongrain crop production and have

run trials on maize, beans and potatoes. Thesecond learning network is the conservation agriculture

group, where they learned about best practices for improved farm productivity. Someof the practices

learned through the CA group includeno-till and reduced use of syntheticfertilisers, crop diversification

through theincorporation of cover crops as well as intercropping and crop rotation. Thegroups have

also learnt about intensive homestead garden, where they learnt about importance ofincorporating

during ceremonies.

Access to resources

This is probably the most important reason why many farmers create networks or join existing ones; to

makeit easier to access resources. The interviews revealed that farmers access resources through the

various networks in the following ways:

❑Bulk buying under the farmers’ association where they all contribute an equal amount towards, seed,

fertiliser and chemicals.

❑Subsidised Inputs: In theCA learning groups, the inputs are provided by Mahlathini where farmers

❑Easy access to credit, through savings groups which is used for various household needs. Shareout

once a year, i.e. pool of money for procuring inputs and fulfilling household obligations.

Current Practices

The individual interviews also revealed that farming practices are largely informed by what the farmers

have been taught at trainings and by their own experiences. Through the support of DARD, many

practice a monoculture model of mechanized agriculture, particularly when it comes to maize, beans

and potatoes. Through the CA learning groups, they have received training CSA practices such as

intensive garden production where they apply more organic methods. Through conservation agriculture

they havelearnt about planting different crop varieties, livestock integration, water conservation and

What is necessary to strengthen agro ecology?

Although their current farming practices do have elements of agro ecology, more still needs to be

done to incorporate agro ecology principles into their farming systems. Some of the responses

regarding ways to strengthen agro ecology in their current system were as follows:

❑Greater exposure to agro ecology through the CA learning network

❑More research on agro ecology principles and practices

❑A paradigm shift on agro ecology and what it entails

❑More access to organic inputs

❑Greater control of predators that damage crops such a monkeys

❑Employing more sustainable practices that work in partnership with nature rather than against it.

A few farmers gave the following responses regarding the role networks can play to strengthen agro-

ecology?

❑Existing networks can train the youth on agro ecology in order to ensure continuity

The tables on the following page give a summary of the findings from the individual interviews.

reasons, i.e. to “pay” each other on arotational basis forhousehold needs, to saveup for groceries at

the end of the year, buy blanket, meat, soaps and other goods. This nevertheless raises a question over

the possibility of forming a stokvel dedicated to agro ecology initiatives? Although the farmers did not

specifically say that savings are linked to agro ecology in particular, they did concede that they

definitely play an important rolein their farming activities as summed up in their words, “without

farming they would benosavings groups, and without savings groups we would not progress in their

Conservation Agriculture Learning Network and Agro-Ecology

The farmers werealso asked to discuss why they gave theconservation agriculture learning groups a

perfect score across all the five categories and their responses were summarized as follows:

learning and sharing through farmers days, workshops, cross vists and field demos

ploughing and excessive use of synthetic fertilisers

When people are jealous of an individual/group’s success theysimply withdraw their support ortry to

Climate Changehas brought with it a myriad of challenges and farmers have never been under this

much pressure to find innovative ways to effectively grow food. Even those who insist on continuing

with mechanical ploughing have started to feel the brunt of harsh and erratic climatic conditions. Case

in point, there were two major hailstorms in KZN in December that ravaged through fields, damaged

houses and even killed some livestock. These harsh weather conditions coupled with a sharp rise in

input costs have resulted in some becoming discouraged and either downscaling or not planting

SWOT Analysis

At the end of the workshop, a swotanalysis was done to try and highlight what enables solidarity

networks to function well, what inhibits them from effectively bringing about change, the opportunities

that exist forstrengthening their roles and the threats that placetheir sustainability under question.