Milestone 5 - CCA Review and Networking and Progress Report

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Acknowledgements

The USAID Resilient WatersProgram is funded by theU.S. Agency for International Developmentand

implemented by Chemonics International Inc. Fixed amountaward No. RWP-G3-MDF is a sub-grant

implemented by Mahlathini Development Foundation.

2 Forresters Lane

Pietermaritzburg, 3201

KZN, South Africa

T (+27)828732289

W www.mahlathini.org

Company Reg. No. 2016/285787/08 (2016)

Non-profit org. Reg. No. 930051028 (2015)

DUNS No. 539 162 399

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Community based climate change adaptation for increased

water productivity and food security for improved rural

livelihoods in the Lower Olifants basin

MILESTONE 5: Review and networking (1): Progress

Report.

07/04/2021

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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Mahlathini Development Foundation (MDF) is a small public benefit non-profit organization consisting of

ruraldevelopment practitioners who specialize in participatory learning and action processes, sustainable

natural resource management and low external input farming systems, including a focus on rain water

harvesting, conservation agriculture, intensive homestead food production, food security,climate change

adaptation micro finance and enterprise development.

MDF designs andimplements rural development programmes and training processes providing learning

processes for adults all the way from semi- literate farmers to post graduate university level. We work in

partnership with government and non-government organisations alike. We are sensitive to and mainstream

where possible gender, disability and people living with HIV/AIDs.

Climate variability and climate change (increased temperature, increased variability in rainfall patterns,

increased intensity of storms and increased drought) have far reaching effects on the lives and livelihoods

of the rural poor.Climate change poses a significant threat to South Africa’s water resources, food security,

health, infrastructure, ecosystem services and biodiversity.

This project intends to effect processes for community-based climate change adaptation (CB-CCA) for

improved livelihoods and resilience for project participants through introduction and implementation of

climate resilient agricultural (CRA) practices, building of social agency and stakeholder platforms and

support for alternative income generation opportunities.

The Innovation Systems methodological approach for this project focuses on local level learning groups and

individual and group experimentation toincrease local capacity and agency in building systems forfood

security and rural livelihoods.

As a first step, a village level assessment ofclimate change impacts and general natural resource use

patterns are done. Secondly, an analysisof adaptive strategies and associated practices provides the

platform forimplementation of locally derived and prioritized activities and CSA practices. Thirdly, the

learning groups provide the organizationalplatforms for participatory research and monitoring, improved

governance and agency and collaborative actions around village level water resource management, rainfed

cropping systems, grazing management, village level savingsand loan associations and farmer centers for

local input provision and marketing.

Research and development assistance’s key role will beto create and facilitate innovation platforms for

local action in an environment of increasingly fractured social structures, immense economic and survival

pressures, and where direct government support to rural dwellers has decreased dramatically over the last

decade. Use ofthesmallholder farmer level decision support system will ensure a locally motivated and

owned agenda for action, with potential for transformative adaptation that includes local stakeholders and

service providers in the Communities of Practice (CoPs).

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT. 
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Contents
Executive Summary .....................................................................................................4
1 Progress for the reporting period ................................................................................4
Project Objectives ......................................................................................................4
1 Overview of RW Community based CCA Project objectives..................................................4
Milestone Description...................................................................................................5
1 Definition of milestone and purpose ............................................................................5
Communities of practice and stakeholder engagement...........................................................5
1 Communities of practice ..........................................................................................5
2 Stakeholderrelationships and collaboration ...................................................................6
Climate Change learning groups ......................................................................................8
1 Progress with Learning and Mentoring ..........................................................................8
Progress for main activities ..........................................................................................11
1 Learning and implementation ..................................................................................11
2 Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and enterprise development.............................40
Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) plan..................................................................49
1 Framework & indicators .........................................................................................49
2 Garden monitoring ...............................................................................................50
Work Plan for Milestone 6............................................................................................54
1 Work plan for April - September 2021.........................................................................55

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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1Executive Summary

1.1Progress for the reporting period

Learning group members across nine ofthe thirteen villages have been engaged between November 2020

and March 2021 in a number of leaning and mentoring activities related to climate resilient agriculture (CRA)

including: Conservation Agriculture, small livestock production and management, greywater management

and tower gardens, seed saving, and soil fertility and soil and water conservation. Learning group activities

have included the finalisation of tunnel construction, working with local teams as support,follow-up for

enterprise development activitiesplanned and undertaken, themonthly VSLA meetings for the 9 associations,

planting of new mangovarieties formarketing purposesand continuation with watercommittees and water

system maintenance.

The organic marketing process has been supported. Continuation with learning sessions to bring participants

from 3 villages (Sedawa, Mametja and Turkey) to readiness for PGS organic certification.Hoedspruit PGS

meetings and process for certification PGA SA negotiations have been held, as has a webinar with PGS-SA to

explore group-based certification options.

In total155 participants have been involved in learning and mentoring support processes during this period.

With regards networking and stakeholder engagement,MDF has participated in theAgroecology network,

both nationallyand in Limpopo and provided input into theAVACLIM research process, networking and

negotiations with PGS-SA, Hpedspruit PGS quarterly meeting joint proposal development with the Nova

institute for a Nexus project with WRC, and have continued our collaboration with AWARD and K2C

PARTICIPANTS THIS PERIOD

MAHLATHINI: Erna Kruger,Betty Maimela, Thembhani Mabunda (Intern), Nqe Dlamini, MazwiDlamini

CHEMONICS: Sitha Mvumvu, Mayford Manika, Lindela Mketeni and Steve Collins.

2Project Objectives

2.1Overview of RW Community based CCAProject

objectives

GOAL: Increased adaptive capacity and resilience to the impacts of climate change for poor, rural

households involved in agriculture.

This goal is aimed specifically at Objectives 3 and 4 as set out in the 2019 Resilient Waters Program APS:

Objective 3: Strengthened ability of communities and key institutions to adapt to change,

particularly the impacts of climate change; and

Objective 4: Conserved biodiversity and ecosystem services.

OBJECTIVES:

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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Reduced vulnerability to climate change by supporting and strengthening collective action,

informed adaptation strategies and practices and tenable institutional arrangements at a local

level, including all relevant service providers and sectors.

Increased sustainability and efficiency of CSA systems in the study areas giving specific attention

to the value chain, using an IS approach

Adaptation and scaling out of sustainable CSA systems in selected areas using livelihoods and

environmental criteria and

Building and strengthening of different innovation platforms and networks for financing,

awareness and implementation of community level Climate Change Adaptation (CCA)."

3Milestone Description

3.1Definition of milestone and purpose

Milestone descriptions have beendeveloped for the RW CB-CCA project for the period starting January 2020

and ending November 2021.The table below summarises the activities against the present milestone

description and budget.

Table 1: Mahlathini Development Foundation Milestone 5: 30 November 2020-7 April 2021

Payment

No.

Milestone

Title

Milestone Verification

Target Due

Date

Milestone

Payment

Visioning and

Decision

Support (I)

Progress report

The grantee will submit to Chemonics a ReviewandNetworking

report detailing the following:

i.Type ofclimate change community of practice formed.

ii. Progressin implementation and impact effected.

iii. Synergiesandrelationships formed with institutions.

iv. Collaboration between local andregional players

The grantee will also submit a progressreport outlining progress

in all main activitiesundertaken from30 November2020- 30

March 2(021 (including visioningand decisionssupport, action

plants, learning and mentoring and monitoring)

Annexes:

i. Attendanceregistersfrom community of practice meetings.

ii. Photographs fromcommunity of practice meetings

7 April

2021

R 413 638.36

4Communities of practice and

stakeholder engagement

4.1Communities of practice

The village-based learning groups are the main Communities of Practice through which participants:

Learn together in a group setting,

Review and plan their activities, experimentation and implementation,

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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Undertake any further joint activities such as village savingsand loan associations, water

committees, PGS groups, marketing groups etc and

Interact with external stakeholders.

These CoPs provide the framework for building social agencyand coherence, whilealso providing

participants the freedom to implement their farming and marketing individually.

The tale below outlines the CoPsset up in this process and the number of participants. The existing learning

groups are those that were formed within the USAID AgriculturalSupport Initiative, which have been brought

into this programme.

For the RW programme the targetover the two-yearimplementation peridot is9-12 CoPs with 370

participants. Presently there are 15 CoPs with 449 participants. Around 15% of these participants are youth

between the ages of 18-30 years. 70% of the participants are women.

Table 1: CoPs and participant numbers for the RW programme: March 2021

CoPs: Village based learning

groups

Existing

New

TOTAL

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Sedawa, incl Bosholosi

Mametja

Finale (inactive)

Willows

Turkey 1,2 ,4 (Nsthabaleng)

Botshabelo (Inactive)

Lepelle (inactive)

Worcester

Madeira

Santeng

Lorraine (inactive)

Mulalani

147

165

312

137

TOTAL

211

228

449

Subtract inactive groups

408

4.2Stakeholder relationships and collaboration

Given the COVID-19 lockdown and social distancing regulations that have now been in effect for a year and

are likely to continue for the duration of this programme, some of the larger farmer and stakeholder level

networking and sharing events planned, have not come to fruition.

Instead, the work has continued through working mostly at village level with smaller, repeating workshops

and processes across the villages as required. Small cross visits have been undertaken for a few participants

from one learning group visiting other villages in the programme. Thishas meant that learning and

implementation has continued as planned.

Maintaining and expanding relationships with Government level stakeholders such as the Department of

Agriculture, the Maruleng Local Municipality, the Water Service Authorities, and the DMs have been a real

challenge.These stakeholders were unavailable for an extended period and upon return to their offices

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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have implemented their own versions of austerity budgets and processes, focusing in the IDP for 2020-21 on

service provision (water, sanitation, electricity, roads, refuse removal) and the EPWP. There are no projects

or processes focused on smallholder farmers or agricultural development.

MDF has built ongoing relationships with local and regional stakeholders to strengthen programme

implementation and voice of rural dwellers and smallholders. The list below provides a summary.

Association for Water and Rural Development (AWARD):Collaboration with AWARD on joint

activities in implementation and networking including for example; food parcel funding and

distribution during COVID lockdown levels 4 and 5,PGS (Participatory guarantee System for Organic

certification) Hoedspruit, PGS learning process for smallholders and negotiation with SAOSO and

PGS-SA, youthbased learning and initiatives, groundwater participatoryresearch process,

involvement in the Agroecology Network Limpopo chapter and a joint proposal forTransforming

education for Sustainable Futures. In addition, we have jointly developed the “tala Table” local

marketing initiative.

Kruger to Canyon Biosphere (K2C): Negotiation for collaboration in their marketing initiatives and

the PGS pollinator programme. Weeklyand monthly organic vegetable sales on their internet

platform (From the region forthe region) as well a at the Hoedspruit farmers’ market and presently

the Kamogelo market.

The Hoedspruit Hub: Collaboration as a social development partnerin the Hoedspruit PGS, joint

training initiatives in organic mango production and marketing

Hlokomela, Seeds of light andZingela ulwazi: Networking and informationsharing. Initial ideas for

collaboration in permaculture training, marketing of organic herbs and water provision were put on

hold due to COVID-19 as all organisations experienced funding and implementation cuts.

The Nova Institute:Joint funding proposals forwater, sanitation and farming nexus projects as well

as commercialisation of organic mango production for drying through the M-Pak facility.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF):negotiation for potential marketing contracts as well as

discussions around WWF support for community level water provision processes. These are ongoing.

AgroecologyNetwork:MDF is a member of the national network and in the learning and

implementation working group and is also a founding member of the Limpopo chapter of the network.

Recently inputhas been provided intoa policy and advocacyresearch process into Agroecology

coordinated through the UWC.

Adaptation Network: MDF is a member of thisnetwork and most recently provideda presentation

on a webinar around Nature based solutions to development.

Advocacy processes:MDFhas participated in advocacy and policy submissions through theC-19

Coalition, the SA Food Sovereignty Campaign and the Climate Action campaign.

DARD: Here interactions have included working with the State Vet in the area toassist livestock

associations with vaccinations, certificates for sale etc,assisting individual who have been provided

with input support tokens through the COVID 19 departmental response and engaging around seed

provision and distribution by the Department.

In summary, MDF maintains a wide range of local, regional and national stakeholderrelationships and

collaborations to strengthen and farther the agendas for community level climate change adaptation

implementation, water provision, agroecology and food sovereignty.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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5Climate Change learning groups

Below is a small map indicating villages where the CCAlearning groups are active.

Figure 1: Map of villages where the CCA learning groups are presently active; March 2021

5.1Progress with Learning and Mentoring

Overall, MDF has engaged 449 participants across 13 villages. Of these participants 70% are women and 30%

are men. Youth involvement is still reasonably small at around 15%.

The process followed by MDF is toworkat individual homesteads and with small verylocalised groups of

participants to continue the learning and implementation in CRA. Attendance at learning and mentoring

workshops and planning sessions has thus been muchlowerand the sessions are repeated for a larger number

of small gatherings.

During this period learning and mentoring focused on Conservation Agriculture, seed saving, drip irrigation

livestock health, soil fertility, tower gardens, value adding and food processing.

In total, 135participants across 11villages have received learning and mentoring support between November

2020 and March 2021. A total of 20 learning and mentoring sessions have been conducted.

Table 2:Summary of CCA learning group progress and planned activities: November 2020-March 2021

Learning group

(no of active

participants in

the reporting

period)

CCA

planning

Practices to focus on,

from CCA and review

workshop sessions

Progress with activities (April

2021)

Planned activities

(April – June 2021)

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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Turkey 1 (24),

Turkey 2(18)

and

Turkey 4 (34)

(76

participants)

Done

Seedling production,

processing (chilli,

Marula, beetroot and

achar), tower gardens,

organic mango

production and mango

grafting, eco-circles,

seed saving, composting,

markets, nurseries

-Natural soil fertility and liquid

manure (24)

-Mandala bed and permaculture

training (36)

-Tunnel construction (15,14)

- VSLAsmonthly meetings and

mentoring for Turkey 1(19)and

Turkey 2 (14)

- Tower garden training, Turkey4

(18)

-Trenchbeds training workshop

turkey 4 (34)

- trench beds recap and eco-

circle training Turkey 1,2 (24,18)

- Organic marketing - PGS

training sessions 2 (12), 3(16)

- Enterprise development

training (17)

- Water committee meetings and

monitoring of water scheme

implementation (18)

-CA training; experimentation

and follow-up (18)

- Seed saving (16)

- PGS 4, Follow up on visioning,

tala table, household maps–

fruit trees: (10)

- Value adding and food

processing (5)

- Organic marketing

(PGS workshops 5-6),

PGS registration intro

(Karabo)

- Seasonalreview and

planning meeting and

crop calendars

- Soil and water

conservation

- Natural pest and

disease control

-Monthly VSLA

meetings

Sedawa (34),

Bosholozi (29)

and Mametja

(63

participants)

Done

Liquid manure, natural

pest and disease control

workshop, shallow

trenches, eco-circles,

mandala garden,

irrigationmanagement,

soil conservation (stone

lines, check dams,

terraces),tower

gardens, livestock

integration, seed saving

review and storage,

organic mango training,

compost, value adding to

crops, example basil

pesto, tomato jam

- Mandala bed and permaculture

training (28)

-VSLAmonthly meetingsand

mentoring for3 groups in Sedawa

(13,19,15)

- Water committee meetingsx3

and monitoring of water scheme

implementation (19)

- Organic marketing –PGS

training sessions 2 (16), 3 (17)

- Enterprise development

training (11)

- Water committee meetings (x 3)

and monitoring of water scheme

implementation (21)

-CA training; experimentation

and follow-up (21, 29)

- Seed saving (34)

- Drip irrigation (29)

- PGS 4, Follow up on visioning,

tala table, household maps–

fruit trees: (10)

- Value adding and food

processing (5)

-Monthly VSLA

meetings

- Organic marketing

(PGS workshops 4-6)

- Natural pest control,

liquid manures

-Mango grafting

practical

- Any new innovation

that MDF might know

of that they haven’t

tried.

- Nursery

- Seasonalreview and

planningincluding

Crop calendar

-Bosholozi:Soil

fertility, bed design,

mixed cropping,

-Soil and water

conservation

Willows (18

Participants)

Done

Bed design, seed saving,

seedling propagation,

Conservation

agriculture, drip kits,

trench beds, mulching,

furrows and ridges,

banana circles,

rainwater harvesting,

organic mango

production, tower

gardens, liquid manure,

- VSLA monthly meetings and

mentoring for Willows(17)

-Tunnel construction workshop

and follow-up (10)

- Organic marketing; planning

and implementation

-Enterprise Development training

- Livestock health withstate Vet

(12)

- Poultry production: follow up

and support (4)

-Seed saving (

- MonthlyVSLA

meetings

- Organic marketing

- Eco-circlesand

mixed cropping, crop

calendars

- Mandala bed and

permaculture training

-Soil and water

conservation

-Drip irrigation

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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natural pestand disease

control.

-Tower gardens (18)

-Value adding and food

processing (5)

-Seasonal review and

Natural pest and

disease control

Finale(9

Participants)

INACTIVE

Done

Poultry production, field

cropping practices,

marketing,

- Organic marketing; planning

and implementation

- Organic marketing

Santeng (25

Participants)

Done

Drip irrigation, diversion

ditches, greywater

management, rainwater

harvesting, ridgesand

furrows, stone bunds,

keyholeends, banana

basins, crop rotation,

mixed cropping,

mulching, conservation

agriculture, targeted

fertilizer and lime

application, liquid

manure, trenchbeds,

legumes, compost, eco-

circles

-Tunnel construction training and

follow-up(18)

- VSLA monthly meetings and

mentoring for Santeng (13)

- Enterprise development

training (25)

-CA training; experimentation

and follow-up (16)

- Seed saving (22)

-Tower gardens (16)

Value adding and food

processing (5+)

- MonthlyVSLA

meetings

- Organic marketing

- Soil and water

conservation

-Drip irrigation

- Natural P&D control

and mixed cropping

-Seasonal review and

crop calendars.

Worcester (18

Participants)

Done

Seedling production, drip

irrigation, greywater

management, tower

gardens, natural pest

and disease control,

growing herbs, seed

saving

- CCA introduction, 5 finger

principles (13)

- VSLAsmonthly meetings and

mentoring for Worcester (14)

- Tower garden training (15)

-CA training; experimentation

and follow-up (18)

- Seed saving (17)

- Tunnel construction (7

participants

-Tower gardens (16)

- Value adding and food

processing (5+)

- MonthlyVSLA

meetings

- Value adding

- Soil and water

conservation

- Natural pest and

diseasecontrol and

liquid manures

-Eco-circle, mixed

cropping and crop

rotation

- Drip irrigation

Madeira (14

Participants)

Worked with Lia

before and now

not so keen to

try these things

at home) Larger

fields: We were

a little late

with theCA –

would need to

come in early

October

Done

Drip irrigation, mulching,

keyholebeds (grey

water), furrow and

ridges, banana circles,

rainwater harvesting,

tied ridges, targeted

fertilizer and lime

applications, liquid

manure, trench beds,

eco-circles, seed saving

- VSLA introduction training and

monthly meetings and mentoring

for (14)

-Meeting withwater committee

(9)

-Seed saving

- Value adding and food

processing (5+)

- MonthlyVSLA

meetings

-Keyhole beds, eco-

circles, shallow trench

bed

-Furrows and ridges/

shallow trenchesin

fields (contours)

- Mixed cropping, crop

rotation, liquid

manures

-Organic marketing

Mulalani (36

participants)

Done

Tunnels,underground

tanks, and bigger

rainwater harvesting

structures more

generally, drip kits,

growing fodder for

livestock, conservation

agriculture, diversion

ditches, mulching,liquid

manure, tower gardens,

furrows and ridges,

shallow and deep

trenches, natural pest

and disease control, new

winter e.g. crop options,

- CCA introductionworkshop in

September 2020 (22)

-Trenchbed training workshop

September 2020 (25)

-Seed saving

-Trench beds (25)

- Tunnel construction (6)

-CA introductionworkshop (5)

-Tower gardens (22)

-Value adding and food

processing (5+)

- Eco circles, shallow

trenches

-Seasonal review and

planning, including

crop calendar

- Pest and disease

control, mixed

cropping liquid

manure

-Soil and water

conservation

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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seed saving, savings

groups

Total trained

(Nov-April

2021)

190

6Progress for main activities

6.1Learning and implementation

Written by Betty Maimela

A number of learning and mentoring sessions were conducted during this period including:

Tower gardens: Santeng(16), Nulalani (22), Bosholsi (18), Worcester (16), Willows(18)

CA introduction and experimentation: Bosholozi (29), Santeng (16), Sedawa (21), Wrcrester (18)

Livestock production mentoring and support (Layers, broilers, cattle): Willows, Sedawa

Tunnel construction: 17 tunnels in Turkey, Santeng, Willows, Sedawa, Mulalani and Worcester

Drip irrigation: Bosholosi (6), Sedawa (9), Santeng (5)

Tower gardens

Tower gardens are built-up beds; a constructed tube of shade cloth and poles with a central core of gravel

to filterout and bind some of the soaps in greywater. The medium is made of a third each of soil, compost

or manure and wood ash. The wood ash also binds the soaps. They provide a small, intensive, easy to manage

raised bed, that can be placed close to the home, in circumstances where there is a shortage of water and

a safe way to use greywater.

The learning and implementation sessions in tower gardens werecontinued in this period ofimplementation

for several village-based learning groups.

Figure 2: Tower garden demonstration

workshop at Ella Khohlwane’s homestead in

Santeng.

The workshops started at Mulalani with 22

attended participants at Maria Sekgobela’s

homestead. At Bosholosi there were 18

attended participants at Mpho Morema’s

homestead one of the youth in the group

who joined after the passing of hermother,

taking over the garden. At Worcesterthere were 16 attended participants atMmabotse Masete’s homestead,

one of the oldest participants who asked forhelp with regards to implementing the tower garden as she

cannot implement trench beds in hergarden. At Willows, the workshop was done at Josias Lewele’s

homestead with 18 attended participants.

The materials required can belimiting forsome gardeners, and includes 2x3m 80% shade cloth,4x 1,8m

poles, 5kg gravel,a 5-litre bottomless bucket and two wheelbarrows full of wood ash, six wheelbarrows full

of kraal manure (goat, cattle or chicken) and eight wheelbarrows full of topsoil.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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Figure 3: Below, from left to right; participants are mixing topsoil with cattle kraal manure and wood ash, while others

have knitted the shed netting aroundthe four poles and have placed abottomless 5kg bucket with small rocks as the

central filtering column for the greywater.

Figure 4: Below, participants are adding all the mixed soil to the knitted net shading, while watering every layer and

moving the bottomless bucket every layer till the mixed soil is finished, then open holes on the sides of the tower

garden where they will be planting seedlings.

Figure 5: Below, participants started planting the seedlings after irrigating the whole tower garden. They planted

seedlings like mustard spinach, thyme, lavender and Origanum inthe tower garden and shared the remaining seedlings

amongst eachother, most especially theherbs like rosemary,Origanum, thyme, lavenderand lemon balm. Herbs are

introduced to act asinsect repellents and to attract pest predators. Rosemary and lemon balm can be mixed with other

herbs like lemon grass and fennel to make tea that assisst with maintaining high blood pressure.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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Comments from participants per village

1.Mulalani

•Maria Sekgobela - Thispractice is easyto implement, the onlyproblem wouldbe getting the 80%

net shading as it is stronget and can last for some years and still be re-used when changing the soil

mixture.

•Morake Lehlwane –She will implement the practice on her own as she has seen that it is easy to

implement and requires less hard work unlike the trench beds where one has to dig, which is hard

work in the dry, hard soil.

•Dina Sebashe –Thetower garden is an easy way of gardening more especially for them as they have

to buy water orwait for the municipality trucks todeliver water or wait for the boreholes to be

pumped and then the collect water using wheelbarrows,so with these practice, one can use grey

water from the kitchen or water they used to wash their clothes for irrigation.

2.Bosholosi

•Frida Thobejane –She loved the practice and suggested that one caneven use maize meal sacks,

fill it with the soil mixture and close it and then open holes where she will be planting her spinach

and one marigold to attract insecst that will eat unwanted insects in the garden.

•Shai Filinah –She will implement the practice in her garden as she failed toimplement trench beds,

because where she stays is rocky and has no soil. The practice is better as it also allows the use of

grey water, she will not struggle in times where there is no water.

•Ruth Morei –She loved thepractice and will come to observe the results before she could implement

in her garden. She has seen the results of trench beds andwould like to compare these two practices

with each other in terms of crop growth.

3.Willows

•All participants want totry the practice in their garden, the only challenge will be the 80% net

shading, they can make their own seedlings, get the poles, but the notthe net shading.

•Most participants in Willows have their own borehole waterthat they use for both domestic and

irrigation and only those with no water will use grey water for irrigating in the tower garden.

4.Worcester

•Melita Malatji –She is one of the volunteers toimplement the practice with the help of the local

facilitator in her garden and will be monitored by one of MDF facilitators, she also explained that

the practice requires less hard work and materials are easily accessible except the shadecloth.

•Mmabotse Masete was very happy, she explained that she has been waiting for this day, she is one

of the elderly in the group who are unable to implement the trench beds and she was saddenedto

see how active the group is and as she stays alone the tower garden is perfect for her and she will

be able to irrigate with greywater.

Conservation Agriculture

By Betty Maimela

introduction and experimentation

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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The season started with substantially more rainfallthan in the past five years and participants

enthusiastically returned to dryland field cropping.The rainfall was however not consistent, with longish

periods of extreme heat in between and heavy downpours later in the season caused substantial erosion. In

all the season yielded much lower than expected growth.

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a practice used for soil and water conservation, improvement of soil fertility

and soil health and improvement of yields. CA is based on three principles that farmers are taught:

1.Minimumsoil disturbance.Farmers are advised to disturb the soil as little as possible onlywhere

they plant seeds, kraal manure and compost on the soil and leavea small basin for water catchment.

They arealsotaught not to plough the soil with tractors or hand hoes. This saves farmer’s money

and assists in reducing soil erosion caused either by wind or rainwater.

2.Soil cover. This can be easily donewith seasonal crop residues.The soil must always remaincovered,

either by residues ora mulch of dry grass orleaves. This principle, when managed properlycan

improve water infiltration, reduce soil erosion, reduce evaporation and conserve soil moisture and

helps to suppress weeds.

3.Diversified cropping. Intercropping with legumes and cucurbits (beans, cowpeas, pumpkins, Dolichos,

ground nuts, jugobeans) and cropping of summer cover crop mixes (sunflower, Sun hemp and millet)

are introduced forfarmers to diversify their cropping. Monocropping is discouraged. With crop

rotation, crops are alsorotated in a field to ensure soil and crop health and an even distribution of

soil nutrients. In the experiments, food crops are mixed with soil enriching, biomass building crops.

The process of intercropping yields many benefits, for example: addition of nitrogen and other

nutrients into the soil conservation of water, suppression of weeds and pest and disease control.

Bosholosi CA introduction and experimentation

Date: 05 November

Homestead: Lesterina Mogofe

Number of participants: 29

Bosholosi is a new group

which has beenset up as an

extension ofthe Sedawa

learning group. Here Betty

and Christina (LF for

Sedawa) introduced the CA

concepts and

experimentation. A

demonstration plot (2 x

10mx10 plots) was

undertaken with a maize and

bean and maize and pumpkin

intercrop, respectively. In

this organic CA plot, weeds were

removed by hand and bonemeal and limewereadded to kraal

manure for fertility enhancementin the basins and rows planted. A tramline

system using close spacing is used. 50cmx50cm in and between lines for maize and

pumpkins and 25cmx10cm for legumes.

Figure 6: Participantsare using ahandhoeto opensmall basin for both themaizeand

beans, bonemeal, kraal manure. The picture below shows one farmer adding bonemeal

before kraal manure and seeds.

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Thereafter all participants wereprovided

with seeds to continue their own 10x10CA

plots in their ownhomesteads.

Figure 7: Christinais helping with seed

distribution amongst participants. Seeds

distributed were pumpkin, lab-lab (Dolichos),

summer standard mixture (sunflower, Sun hemp

and sorghum)

Santeng CA demonstration and experimentation

Venue: Santeng

Homestead: Florence Mashego and Ella Khohlwane

Number of participants: 16

In Santeng this is the 2ndseason participants are trying out CA. Their observations from the previous season

included that:

They are against the idea of mulching right after planting the seeds before it rains, with the belief

that due to mulch water does not infiltrate the soil because they rain istoo little to wet both the

mulch and thesoil.Theyfeltthat once it starts raining, they will mulch to avoid evaporation and

to keep the soil moist.

The demonstration plots wereplanted,

starting at Florence Mashego’s homestead

with two 5mx5m plots, one withtramlines of

maize and sugar beans (5m)another with

maize and cowpeas. Another plot was

planted to the summer standard mixtureof

Sun hemp, sunflower and sorghum in rows

that were 30cm apart. At Ella Khohlwane,

because of thelack of space,only oneplot

was done ofmaize tramlines intercropped

with beans and pumpkins, respectively.

Figure 8: Top right: Betty is demonstrating to

participants howto apply bonemeal and Christina

Shai is adding chicken kraal manure before

adding seeds and Below right: Participantsare

planting seeds and insmall basins, making sure

that each basin will collect rainwater, whenit

rains.

After planting at Florence’s field, we moved

to Ella khohlwane’s home stead for the third plot of theexperiment.

Ella’s soil is very rocky and shallow. As she

had already planted a maize and bean

intercrop the experiment focused on

intercrops of maize, pumpkin and cowpeas.

Figure 9: Participants continued with the third

plot at Ella Khohlwane’s household, where

chicken manure and bonemeal were added before

planting the maize and pumpkinseed.

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Sedawa CA demonstration and experimentation

The Sedawa learning group is one of the oldest groups in the programme and every season, some participants

prepare their land for CA and other do not, due to the extreme heat and low rainfall experienced in recent

years. This season early rains were good.

Christina Thobejane worked with the

group in purchasing both seeds kept form

last season, notably cowpeas, from

Magdelina Malepe and maize and other

seeds such as ground nuts form the

shops. It was agreed all participants

would do three intercropped plots each.

Figure 10: Participants form Sedawa are

working with Christina Thobejane to

intercrop plots of maize, cowpeas and

groundnuts.

Date: 30 November 2020

Venue: Mpelesi Sekgobela’s field cropping

Number of participants: 21

Most of the participants were new members in the group, as others are already familiar with the practices,

although they do not pay much heed to the rotational aspect of the CA plots.

This season, Mpelesi remembered not to

plough thefield and theblanket of weedsand

grass had helped to keep some of themoisture

in the soil. Goat manure and bonemeal were

used to add fertility to the soil.

Figure 11: Sedawa participants working on the

demonstration plot at Mpelesi’s homestead.

Worcester CA

demonstration and experimentation

Date: 02 December 2020

Homestead: Rosina Maanaso

Number participants: 18

Worcester is a new learning group. A learning session was held to introduce all the concepts. In this village

the homestead yards are large, and

participants plant their field crops there. As

this demonstration was a little late, the

participants had already experienced the

first lull in rainfall,as it had rained well in

the first two weeks of November and then

no rain fell for 3-4 weeks. Participants

however opted toplant and hope for the

best. Soils here are sandy, exposed, dry and

hot.

Figure 12: Worcester participants busy with the

CA demonstration plot. The sandy, infertile soil

is apparent.

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Animal drawn planter demsontrations

SANTENG

Here a team of donkeys was hired for the day to test out the Knapick animal drawn planter. We needed to

ascertain whether donkeys could in fact pull this planter and how wellit works as farmers in this area do

not use oxen for ploughing and the planter isquite heavy and large. Some time needed tobe spent toadjust

the seed bins toensure that the seeds were deposited at the correct spacing and depth. As the field isquite

small, difficulties ensued with turning the team of donkeys aroundwith the planter tocontinue with the

following row.

Farmers were happy about theplanter and

were already making plans totake it tothe

big fieldstotry it out. Specifically, the

two Mogofe brothers from Willows are

wanting to try it out on their fields.

Figure 13: trying out the animal drawn no till

planters with a team of donkeys, in Santeng.

CA experimentation monitoring

As in previous years, CA crop establishment and growth was disappointing. This was a result both of

intermittent heavy rainfall that caused substantial erosion on these sandy infertile soils and then period of

extreme heat, where many of the crops wilted and died.

Building up organic matterand using intensive soil and water conservation techniques are going to be crucial

going forward. The facilitation team was taken a little by surprise by the extent of the erosion,as all

previous years had in fact been drought years.

Santeng CA monitoring

Ella Khohlwane: She explained that after planting, it did not rain for a month, followed by heavy rains that

washed away the beans that had germinated. Due to heat pants were stressed and maize was attacked by

stalk borerand aphidsand cowpeas by aphids. She replanted maize where it did not grow and intercropped

with pumpkin and watermelon. She alsoplanted green beans, which once again were washed away by heavy

rains.

Figure 14: right Ella

Khohlwane’s plot where

cowpeas are growing

reasonably well,beans have

been washed away and

maize is showing patchy

growth and yellowing.

There is evidence of sever

run-off and extremely low

levels of organicmatter in

the soil. Far right:Evidence

of stalk borer and aphids in

maize.

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Figure 15: Below left and right: Ella’s maize with evidence in the foreground of runoff and her latest planting of green

beans – struggling due to runoff heat and infertile soils.

Florence Mashegointercropped maize, ground nuts, cowpeas, watermelon,ground nuts and Mokopu.

Florence had three plots; one where she planted maize with cowpeas, one with maize and sugar beans and

the third with millet, sunflowerand Sun hemp. For this third plot, she used the traditional practice of

furrow and ridges.This plot did very well compared with the standard CA planting practices. It was alsothe

only plot where she added manureand bonemeal. Participants continue to believe, despite quite strong

evidence to the contrary that they have naturally fertile soils and that they don’t needto use organic matter

to plant.

Figure 16:

Florccne’sSCC plot

planted with

manure and

bonemeal using

furrows and ridges

growing very well.

NomsaMafologeleand other participants in the Santeng learning group

opted not toplant their CAplots, given the extreme heat and little to no

rainfall in December.

Maanawe Shaiplanted her plotsafterthe first rain in October. She planted

maize, cowpeas, pumpkin and ground nuts, using seedsshe saved from previous

summer season. She used borehole water to irrigate due to lack of rain and

extreme heat. Maanawe also planted some vegetables (in her trench beds, to

sell around December, like beetroot, spinach, carrots and brinjals. She

managed to make around R730.o00 in December from vegetable sales.

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She also planted a second CAplot in Decembertoyellow maize, cowpeas and jugobeans with seeds she

received from MDF. She did not use any manure or prepare her field properly in this instance. Soil erosion

was evident, as was very low levels of organic matter. Maanawe also explained that since it started raining

later in the season and

continued to rain

heavily, the

groundnuts re-

germinate in their

pods instead ofdrying

out.

Figure 17: Right above:

Plot of maize, harvested

and cowpea intercrop,

with cowpeas growing

well Right below: Maize

has not done well due to

lack of nutrients,

intermittent rain and

heat Far right:

groundnuts re

germinating in their

pods whilestill in the

ground due to continued

late season rain.

Lethabo Malepe planted both maize and legumes.Most of the

seed didn’t germinate due to extreme heat in the beginning

of the growing season.She has made stone lines to try and

deal with runoff,but shas still had some small gulleys forming

due to heavy late season rain.

Figure 18:Right: Stone lines that Lethabo built to control soil

movement and Far right: a gully that formed due to water

movement.

Turkey CA monitoring

Angelina Malatjifrom Turkey 1 divided her farm into three plots, which she planted usingdifferent planting

system and different times. Two plots that are based in her homestead she planted in the second week of

November, while the third plot she planted in December. Angelina used her own old farming system with

minimum tillage using a hand hoe in the first two plots and used the animal drawn planter with donkeys in

the third plot. In both the first and second plot she managed to add kraal manure, because they are small

and easy to manage as they are also in the homestead.

She had trouble with the soil being too dry initially and later in the season being waterlogged, as indicated

by the yellowing maize that was stunted in patches. This is reasonably typical of turkey as whole.

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Figure 19: Angelina’s maize showing reasonable growth

interspersed with patches of yellowing, stunted maize in

waterlogged areas of her field

Mmatshego Shaiis anenthusiastic farmer and prefers

to plant legumes such as groundnuts, beans, cowpeas

and jugo beans, as theydo better than maize. She

uses kraal manurewhen planting. This season she

planted the maize in a small patch,which she

mulched with thatchgrass, leading to good

germination and growth. Her legumes, plantedin

blocks have also done reasonably well, despite severe

runoff and erosion being caused by heavyrainfall. She

has already spent considerable effort laying out beds

and run-off channels, but these were unfortunately

“overrun”.She will continue to improve her soil and

conservation system.

Figure 20: Clockwise from Top Left: 1. Patch of maize grown tall and green by using manure and generous mulching of

grass, 2. Beans also mulched growing well, 3. Erosion fromexcessive run-off despite ditches, pathways and beds

designed for run-off control and 4. A block of groundnuts and cowpeas

Isaac Malatjialso planted summer crops inDecember. As he had tall grass in his plot he opted to plough –

which has had devastating effects in his

field. Mr Malatji however stubbornly denied

that he saw anything amiss.

Figure 21: Field with strong signs of erosion and

runoff with crops struggling to grow. As the soil

is an unstructured sandy-clay there are also small

patches of waterlogging in the indentations.

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Elias Mogofe’s crops were also

not in good condition,despite a

stone line he implemented in his

garden aftera soil conservation

workshop. There were signs of

sandy infertile soils, lack of

organic matterand a lot of run-

off.More effort would be

required to improve the condition

of his soil and garden.

Figure 22: Right Above: A stone line,

Right below: Sweet potato in the

foreground and yellow maize behind

and Far Right: Considerable erosion

caused by unchecked run-off in

Elias’s plot.

Sedawa CA monitoring

Sedawa participants havefared somewhat better in their CA implementation, as they have been trying for

a few years now. They believe stronglythat the CAassists in crop growth during droughts and heat and have

started to work on building up organic matter in their soils by adding cattle goatand poultry manure, making

and using compost and planting cover crops and legumes. Aselection of participants alsohave boreholes

and wateris used for

supplementary

irrigation (or they

have access to the

learning group

based borehole for

irrigation).

Figure 23: Meisie’s

maize plots with stone

lines, which are

looking reasonable

despite difficult

weather conditions,

right below: A plot of

maize intercropped

with pumpkin and Raf

right: Her compost

enclosure.

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Magdelina Malepe’s cropping has also improved year on

year as she started with a very infertile and eroded plot,

but has diligently worked on soil conservation structures

and improving her soil conditions.

Figure 24: Right above: Magdelina has planted her maize and

intercropped that with summer cover crops (sunflower, Sun

hemp and millet and Right below: A view of cowpeas growing

very well in between young fruit trees.

Joyce Seotlo’s CAtrial also looked good this season.

She planted maize,pumpkins and cowpeas in one

intercropped plot (shown below).

Conclusion

Only a few of the farmers have been diligent in implementing thethree CA

principles and in undertaking thesoil and water conservationstructures in their

gardens. These farmers are now reaping the benefits ofthese practices. It would

bea good idea to repeatsome ofthe soil and waterconservation practical

learning sessions, now that farmers are once again remembering the damage

that can be caused by heavyrains (as shown on the right).

In some ways the climate in the area already no longer favours maize production

and participants have beenadvised to try and focus on crops that are more

adapted to this environment. Few howeverwant togive up on cultivating maize.

Seed saving

A set of four seed saving workshops were conducted during the week of 16th-19thof November 2020. Anna

Molala, from Sekhukhune and a lead facilitator for the Ukuvuna programme undertaken in their area is an

avid seed saver and has set up a seed saving structure in herhomestead. She agreed torun these workshops

and work with participants in theLower Olifants’ tofocus onseed savingand setting upseed saving networks

at a village level.

Introduction

Village

Venue

Date

No of Participants

Santeng and Willows

Nomsa’s Residence

16/11/2020

Sedawa and Mametja

Christina’s Residence

17/11/2020

Worcester and Mulalani

Community hall

18/11/2020

Turkey and Madeira

Mkhawane’s Residence

19/11/2020

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Seed saving is important toenable farmers toadapt to climate change which in turn promotes and adds

value to Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA). Furthermore, seed saving increase farming production, food

security, profitability, and allows for sustained production.

These workshops were held as input and discussion sessions, guided by a set of questions form Anna. Topics

discussed included:

Seeds kept by participants and practices around

seed saving,

Gardening for seed,

Pollination and seed,

Harvesting and storage

Types of seed to be kept and

Why seedbanks and preparations for starting them.

Some general summary points foreachofthe topics is

provided below.

Participants considered seed saving as very important to their farming, both to keep traditional seed that

cannot be bought in shops and to have a wide variety of crops to be planted close at hand. Seed is a way of

resecting traditional culture and handing it down to futuregenerations. It is a way of farming organically

and ensuring that we have healthyfood to eat.It isalso a source of food for both humans andanimals,

especially chickens. It is alsoa way of ensuring that seed is available, as even if some people lose theirseed

through drought or other problems some people in the area will still have seed to share.

Seeds kept in these communities include: Maize, sorghum, gourds, pumpkin, watermelons, beans,

groundnuts, cowpeas, jugo beans, pigeon pea, moringa and vegetables such as traditional greens (cleome

and Amaranthus) spinach, tomatoes, onions, mustard and more recently herbs such as coriander, parsley,

basil, rocket, fennel and rosemary.

Gardening for seedmeans that gardening should be done to the best of one’s ability ensuring healthy,

nutrient rich soil, for healthy cropsand healthy seed.Birds can be controlled by planting crops such as

sunflowers to lure them there to feed instead of on other crops. Anna warned against the use of fertilizers

and poisons as those would reducefertility and lead to weaker seedin thelonger term. Discussions were

held abouthow todeal with watershortages and common pests in the gardenssuch as ants,aphids and

beetles. Anna warned against the use of pesticides such as blue death, as this also kills thebeneficial species.

Anna encouraged participants to start keeping seed of cropsthat they havenot doneto date including

carrots, spinach, tomatoes and brinjals.

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Figure 25: Above Left and Right: Seed saving workshops in Worcester and Santeng respectively. The table displays seed

for sharing brought by Anna, Erna and community members. Community members were particularly interested in the

butter beans, scarlet runner beans, mustard spinach, traditional melon, black beans, yellow podded wax beans, tree

tomatoes, granadillas, and tobacco seeds.

Pollinationwas discussed;talking tothe structure of flowers, how seeds are formed, examples of crops

with male and female partis in the same flowere.g., tomatoes and beans, in separate flowers but the same

plant, e.g., cucumbers and pumpkins and on separate plants e.g., paw-paws. Pollinators were introduced

as being primarily wind and different kinds of insects, talking to the importance of promoting the presence

of bees specifically in gardens by having flowers with ample nectar available for them and not spraying

pesticides that would kill them. In this regard people mentioned that they have seen that pumpkins would

flowerbut not form seed and the lack of insects for pollination could be one of the reasons. Maize for

example is wind pollinated, meaning that different varieties of maize cancross with each other over very

large distances (up to 1km).

The concept of cross-pollination was introduced, talking to the fact the crops from the same family cross

with each other e.g., different types of peppers and chillies, different types of pumpkins, beetroot and

spinach, different brassicas suchascabbage andkale etc. Some examples of how to deal with this were

provided: Planting different varieties of thesame cropat different times sothat they did not flower at

together and caging plants that are flowering to stop insects from pollinating the different varieties. Hand

pollination is also possible and, in some cases, not at all complicated, such as for pumpkins.

Harvesting seed: Here it was discussed that one needs to keep the plants for seed, sometimes for a longer

period, as for the bi-annualcrops such as cabbages and onions. Evencarrots and spinach can take some time

to seed. One needs tokeep a minimum of6-12 plants, to collect seed form and these plants need to be

healthy throughout their growthcycle. Do not collect seed from diseased plants or from plants that have

bolted. Bolting is when plants go to seed before going through a strong vegetative growth phase. This seed

will have been selected for bolting and the follow-on crop will also bolt.

Storage of seed in a cool dark and dry environment is crucial. If seeds are kept at room temperature, they

will generally not last longer than 2 years. It is possible to keep them in the freezer if they canbe kept dry.

Such seed lasts a lot longer. Plastic bags and containers should be avoided, but paper and glass are fine.

Glass jars with lids that seal are the best as air tight containers preserve seed and do not allowstorage pests

to gain access to the seed. Wood ash and dried ground aloe leaves are good for ensuring that stored seed

do not getpests such as weevils. Anna warned against the use of paraffin for storage, which is common as

it is poisonous and kills the seed over time. Seeds like tomatoes and cucumbers that have a little layer of

gel around them should be soaked in boiled and cooled water for 2-3 days toferment off this layer prior to

drying them. Otherwise, germination is inhibited.

Seedbanksarevery important. A special house for theseed is the best idea and it can be kept cool by

having reedsorgrass on the roof, or even maize stalks. When it rains the runoff from the roofcan be

collected as a kind of liquidmanure. Allbottles should be labelled with the seed name and date of harvesting.

Most participants felt thatthey wanted to have individual seed banks and to share and sell seeds in their

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learning groups and other community events. Theyfelt that doing it together would require too much

management and potentially lead to conflict in the group. Only the Worcester learning group decided toset

up a group-based seedbank.

It was agreed that seed fares would be an excellent way to continue with the seed saving and sharing seed

between participants and in the communities.

Figure 26: Above Left: Erna discussing pollinations during the Sedawa seed saving workshop and Right: Annawith the

seeds laid out for sharing with the group.

Conclusion

In summary, participants greatly appreciated this

input on seed savingand were very pleased tosee a

fellow farmer in the role of facilitator. This gave them

hope to be able tofollow in Anna’sfootsteps. The

main highlights are as follows:

1.Some participants had already started with

seed saving and making an income through

selling their seeds around the villages.

2.Participants were using their own traditional

way of preserving seeds which then shows

commitment to seed saving.

3.Participants were removing themale part (flower) of the maize not being aware that they were

disturbing the pollination process.

4.All participants showed keen interest in constructing a seed bank; a community or individual seed

bank.

5.Some participants had no clue about seed saving and the workshops made a huge difference.

6.Participants inWorcester village made a request tovisit Anna Molala’s in ordertophysically see

Anna’s seed bank and her garden.

Livestock production mentoring and support

Poultry: Layers and broilers

This was undertaken for individuals in the start-up phases of theirnew poultry enterprises as well as for

those already engaged in poultry production.

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1Poultry follow-up

Magdalene Malepefrom Sedawa, has used her savingsand small loans from her membership in a savings

group to set up a poultry house , buy layers cages,birds and feed and start a small egg business. She was

inspired through a cross visit to the Phedisang Centre in Turkey, whichis a day care centre, where ladies

also run an egg layer unit. The demand fortheir eggs is much higher than their production capacity and they

doubled the number of hens in their unit.

The field team assisted Magdalena in setting up the layers unit, linking the drinkers to a water supply system

and trouble-shooting issues with fittings and waternipples. Betty Maimela further assisted by accompanying

Magdalena to Tzaneen to purchase the feed and hens.

Figure 27: Above Left and right:views of the poultry house constructed by Magdalena and the layer unit for 96 hens

set up inside the structure/

Magdalene also keeps traditional chickens in a backroom by her house. She noticed that her hens were not

brooding as they normally should,and she had lost eggs in the past because of this. She was keeping her

chickens enclosed in that house and feeds them yellow maize crush daily. She was not aware that brooding

chickens need a good, varied diet to maintain their body weight and health. She was advised to let them

out for a few hours every day to scavengeand improved their diets, by eating bugs and green plants aswell.

After the first day, her hens returned tobrooding. Mme Magdalene was also advised to make use of the

chicken tractor that was demonstrated about a year ago to have control of the 3 hens outside the room she

keeps them in.

Asnath Letebelefrom Willowsis a new poultry farmer who bought 700 egg layers which are overcrowded

in the two poultryhouses that she built. The hens move freely in the house, with no cages. Due to the

overcrowding and unhygienic conditions, the

birds were susceptibleto Coccidiosis which

leads to bloody discharges when laying eggs and

in their faeces and eventually to death. It is also

very contagious in unhygienic conditions. In

addition, Ansath had opted for a different kind

of feed, as it was cheaper, but this disrupted

the laying cycle of the hens.

The other diseases that can be caused by faecal

contamination of environment, feed and water

is Avian encephalomyelitis a virus infection on

laying birds. This virus can survive for 4 weeks

or more and has notreatment besides a

vaccination.

Figure 28: The lifecycle of Coccidiosis in poultryboth

in the and the birds as host.

Asnath was losing 2-4 birds in a day and was

advised to institute a much more rigorous cycle

of cleaning the drinking water,adding more

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drinkers and poultry houses, of supplying feed in containers off the ground rather than on the ground and

opening the houses for ventilation and cooling during the day.

Figure 29: Egg production inthe overcrowded unhygienic poultry houses dropped from 7x 60cratesa day to 2x 60

crates a day. Egg shells were also weak, with cracks and blood alloverthe eggs. Improved daily management is

required toprovide healthier and cleaner conditions for thehens and certified layers mash needs to be used as feed.

Livestock

To date, support with livestock has revolved around integration through production oflivestock fodder in

field cropping. This has not worked well due to continued droughtand lack of water. Even those farmers

with boreholes have been reluctant to use the water for irrigation, having noticed that their boreholes are

providing muchless waterand becoming salty. Farmers were also experiencing problems with livestock

health and parasites.

In Willows, as in most villages, the livestock farmers belong to an association and use a communal dip tank

fordipping cattle, goats and sheep. The statevet was called in to assistin vaccination and dosing of livestock

in Willows. Dipping is done on a weekly basis,every Tuesday, with assistance from the Departmentof

Agriculture officials from Sekororo. Medication and fodder supply support is providedthrough the

Department on an ad hoc basis. Only one farmer

in this group of around 20 farmers received this

support.

Figure 30: Cattle in the crush pen at the Willowsdip

tank

With assistance from CSA (Conservation South

Africa –who as involved in a livestock support

programme in the area), MDF approached the

state vet, Dr. Christiaan Steinmann for support.

In the first meeting hechecked the diseased cattle and advised farmersto buy Tramisol to deal with the

parasites causing the diseases. He also advised farmers that during summer and in the rainy season the

presence of intestinal worms is high asthe eggs cling to the grassand also to watch out for ingestion of

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poisonous weeds. He discussed the various symptoms with the farmers. He returned a second time to dose

cattle against roundworm and liver fluke worms.

Dr. Steinmann brought needles and farmers bought Tramisol and came with the IVOMEC medication that

they were given by the Local Department of Agriculturefor treating and controlling internal and external

parasites. He assisted farmers with how to do theinjections and dosing of the cattle. 55 Cattle were treated

on the day.

Figure 31: Left to Right:

Christiaanis getting things

ready to treat the cattle and

calves, Cattle in the crush

pen ready for treatment and

dosing of a calf.

Farmers were extrmeley

grateful for this support

and further dates have

been set ofr future

assitance from Dr

Steinmann

Drip Irrigation

A learning process for setting up and installing the drip irrigation kits in thetrench beds and tunnels has

been designed. Each farmerwanting assistance brings along 2-3 other farmers who also want to learn the

process and a practical session is then conducted for them. Thus far these mini workshops have been

conducted in: Bosholosi (19th

Jan 2021)at Mpho Morei’s

homestead and in Santeng

(18thMarch) at Nomsa

Mafologela’s homestead.

Figure 32: From Left to Right: A

participant making the small

dripper holes with strings in the

dripper line, connection of the

bucket to the main feeder lien

and two dripper lines and

installation of the drip kit for a

trench bed in a tunnel.

In theMarch workshop allthe Local facilitators worked together,with the intention that they would continue

to support individual participants in their villages with tunnels to construct the bucket drip irrigation systems

in their gardens and tunnels. They are to keep attendance registers and take photographs in each homestead

support.

Christinah Thobejane, the Local facilitator for Sedawa started the process of assisting individuals in January

2021 and has worked with 9 participants to date.

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Figure 33: Pictures of

Christina the LF at

Sedawa working with

participants,

constructingbucket drip

kits on for their trench

beds inside their tunnels.

Tunnel construction

The process of allocating tunnels to participants whohave put in their “sweat equity” in the form of digging

and packing trench beds and starting to plant inthem, was continued.The local tunnel contraction team

which was set up and started their activities in Santeng, nowmoved around Turkey, Sedawa, Mulalani,

Worcester and Willows to assist household participants to construct their tunnels.

This 10-member team, consisting of 2 participants from each of five villages, has now assisted to complete

construction of 37tunnels supplied for the 2020-21season. They are nowvery efficient in assisting with the

sewing, bending of the pipes with the jig, and construction itself. They work with asmall team oflocal

participants in each case.The only challenge inthisprocess was the need to transport the tunnel

construction team to the venue for construction in each case.

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Figure 34: Clockwise

from Top Left: Sewing

the netting onto the

outside arches, bending

the arches with the metal

jig and putting up arches

before pulling the

netting over it and

securing the netting onto

the farmer and into the

soil.

Below are pictures of a selection of the tunnels that have been constructed.

PGS learning and support

The learning process for the 30 participants from Sedawa and turkey in the organic participatory guarantee

system (PGS) is an ongoing collaboration both with AWARD and the Hoedspruit PGS.Time has been spent

developing a concept note for a group-based guarantee system and presenting these to first the Hoedspruit

PGS and then PGS-SA. It became clear that thepresent model ofthe PGS system allows only for small groups

of individuals, so that a PGS only has around 9 members. Each of these members has to be available for all

the peer review monitoring on all thefarms. Hoedspruit PGS could thus notaccommodate the30 odd

smallholder farmers, as originally anticipated. In addition, Hoedspruit PGS insisted that each farmer needs

to have their own soil samples and water qualitysamples done annually,rather than sampling among the

participants to make the process less unwieldy and cheaper.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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PGS-SA is only now in the process of negotiating with various stakeholders, including MDF to design

customised solutions for group-based certification.

MDF has also negotiated with K2C to include the “Mametja-Sekororo” PGS group in the pollinator programme

being run by SAOSO.For thisprocess, a young local facilitatoris trained and supported toset up aPGS,

inclusive of ensuring all documentation is correctly submitted. Karabo from K2C has now undertaken to set

up two PGS groups, one in Phirieng for K2C and one in Sekororo for MDF.

Explorations have also been done regarding options for soil sample and water quality sample analysis. Afew

soil samples were analysed for theHoedspruit PGS at a laboratory at UCT for soil nutrient andorganic carbon.

As this could not be repeated for other participants and PGS groups, the use of the CEDARA soil analytics

laboratories in KZN has been undertaken. This is a Department of Agriculture research laboratory and soil

sample analysis costs around R200/sample. It is the only provincethat provides this service, and they are

no longer too strict regarding samples originating within KZN.

Soil sampling

Ten soil sampleswere taken from 2 villages: taking 5 samples from Sedawa andTurkey respectively, for

analysis at the CEDARA Soil Analytics laboratory.The samples were subjected to a nutrient analysis for

vegetable and herb production as well as analysis for organic carbon. The idea was to see if samples form

a range of participants are taken, whether a generic recommendation and analysis could be used for the

group, instead of having to undertake sampling for each participant.

Soils samples were taken from the following farmers:

Name and surname

Village

Magdalene Malepe, Esina Malepe, Christina Thobejane, Daphney Maphuru and Mpelesi

Sekgobela

Sedawa

Nkuwane Shai, Norah Tshetlha, Sarah Mohlala, Sarah Madire and Makgalangake Mogale

Turkey

The results for the soil samples however do indicate that specific recommendations will be required for

each participant as there are considerable variations between participants.

Table 3: Soil Fertility and organic carbon analysis for10 PGS participants.

Name and

Surname

Area

Crop to

be grown

Acid sat

(%)

Required

(kg/ha)

required

Lime req

t/ha

ZINC

Org. C %

N %

Clay %

Comment

Christina

Thobejane

Sedawa

Beet

7,11

150

<0,5

<0,05

Low OM, high

P requirement

spinach

100

105

Swt pot

100

Magdalene

Malepe

Sedawa

Beet

6,05

150

160

0,07

Medium OM,

High P and K

requirement

spinach

100

210

190

Swt pot

100

Esina

Malepe

Sedawa

Beet

6,45

150

125

0,8

<0,05

Low OM, high

P requirement

spinach

100

165

Swt pot

100

Daphney

Maphuru

Sedawa

Beet

7,45

150

<0,5

<0,05

Low OM, high

P requirement

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spinach

100

Swt pot

100

Mpelesi

Sekgobela

Sedawa

Beet

7,4

150

1,9

0,1

High OM,good

nutrient

content

spinach

100

Swt pot

100

Nkuwane

Shai

Turkey

Beet

7,09

150

0,5

<0,05

Low OM, high

P requirement

spinach

100

Swt pot

100

Norah

Tshetlha

Turkey

Beet

6,9

150

0,8

<0,05

High OM,good

nutrient

content

spinach

100

Swt pot

100

Sarah

Mohlala

Turkey

Beet

7,45

150

0,6

<0,05

High OM,good

nutrient

content

spinach

100

Swt pot

100

Sarah

Madire

Turkey

Beet

7,25

150

1,3

<0,05

Medium OM,

medium P

requirement

spinach

100

Swt pot

100

pH for all participants isreasonably high and no liming is required. The pHs between 6,05 and 7,45 also

indicate that there are unlikely to be micronutrient deficits or accumulation related to acidity and alkalinity.

For the soil sample analysis, the Nitrogen (N) requirement inKg/ha is estimated according to crop

requirements and notwhat is in the soil. Neverthelessthe %Nin these soils is extremely lowfor all

participants, except Mpelesi Sekgobela. Norah Tshethla andSarah Mohlala. N can be improved in the soils

by planting legumes, planting and incorporating cover crops(green manures)and using urine in liquid

manures/ teas.

The availability of Organic carbon in the soils follow a similar trend to the %N, where only threeparticipants

have medium to high levels of %Organic C and the other7 participants have extremely low levels. % OC can

be improved by incorporation of organic matter in the soil, mulching and crop diversification.

High requirements for Potassium (K), indicate that those participants will needtoprovide a high level of

kraal manure–and are probably householdswhere manure is not readily available: MagdelinaMalepe and

to a lesser extent/Christina Thobejane.

All participants also need high levels of phosphate (P). This is a little tricky to do organically. The easiest

options are to incorporate bonemeal into the soil and tomake compost and trench beds whichinclude some

bone, hair and skin.

PGS workshop 4

Written by Thembhani Mabunda

The 4th workshop in a series of 6 was co-facilitated between MDF and AWARD.

On the 03rdand 04thof March 2020, session four (4)of PGS training workshop was done for the 30 participants

in three villages in the Lower Olifants basin. The 30 participants are thesame participants that were

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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involvedin PGS training since from session 1 PGS training workshop. The 30 participants who are

participating in PGS training are from three villages namely; Sedawa, Mametja and turkey village. Session 4

PGS training were conducted using and following the programme attached bellow. Covid-19 protocols were

observed in all meeting in respective villages and all protocols were observed.

Village

Participants Present

Date & Venue

Sedawa & Mametja

18 participants

03rdof March 2021. Christina’s Residence.

Turkey

09 participants

04thof March 2021. Lydia’s Residence.

2Review and Follow up

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A review and follow up ofthe PGS process with farmers were done with all participants, including the use

of their Tala Tables.

•Participants from Mametja village mentioned that since the last PGS training they have been

having meetings and displaying organic vegetables on top of the Tala Table and talking and advising

each other on organic farming.

•Participants from Sedawa village have been continuing their monthly meeting using the tala table

and displaying the table and selling vegetables on pension pay out around the village, lastly they

also have been using it to sell vegetables in Hoedspruit markets such as the Kamogelo and Khaya-

Ndlovu markets.

•The turkey participants have not been doing muchwith thetala table rather than using itontheir

monthly savings meeting. This is because they had not been producing a lot of vegetables due to

lot of rainfall.

3Vision

Inthe previous PGS training meeting, farmers outlined their visions on what they are expecting to achieve

by being part of a PGS process. The visions of all farmers were then grouped together making up different

vision classes. Eight (8) different vision classes were summarized. As part of the session 4 PGS training,

participants were required to explain how they would achieve each of these vision class. Thefollowing table

is illustrative.

Vision

Classes

Village Names

Process of achieving the vision

1.Organic

farming

Sedawa & Mametja

Using mulching, liquid manure, trench beds, and other

technique of organic farming

Turkey

Using organic compost and manure. Also using liquid manure

2.Working

together

Sedawa & Mametja

Conducting meetings and teaching each other to plant crops.

Turkey

Understanding and respecting each other, sharing ideas and

discussing and solving problems around farming.

3.Access

Market

Sedawa & Mametja

Teaching customers about organic produced. Following

principles of organic farming for good and healthy crops and

harvest and take crops to pension pay-outs.

Turkey

Creating a group and working as a group to access the market.

Contributing moneyas a group for transport to access the

market. Individuals will provide different crops to the market.

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4.Tools for

farming

Sedawa & Mametja

Selling their organic produce and use the profit to buy farming

tools. Starting small when buying the tools

Turkey

Take a loan from the savingsgroup and buy tools like

wheelbarrows, watering cans and spades.

5.Identity

Sedawa & Mametja

Creating a name for our group as a form of identity andteach

people the benefit of organic farming.

Turkey

Using the tala tableas aform of identity and letting people

around the community known that they are farming and selling

organic produce.

6.Money

Sedawa & Mametja

Harvesting crops and sells them in local markets. Selling broilers

to the communities to make money.

Turkey

Plant and sell vegetables to make money and selling seeds that

they save.

7.Farmers

input

Sedawa & Mametja

Going around asking capital for the inputs.

Turkey

Asking organizations such as MDF, AWARD and to help with

inputs.

8.PGS

Vision

Sedawa & Mametja

Making sure that we follow PGS procedures as a group

Turkey

Doing ourown field visit as a PGS group to insurethat we

everyone is following the rules.

Figure 35: Above Left and Right: Pictures form the PGS training in March 2021

Garden maps and PGS procedures

It is a PGS requirement to havea detailed garden map with numbered beds, planting dates etc. Maps drawn

in the previous session were printed for each participant and were given to their respective owners during

the recent PGS training. Maps were assessed to find out common features.It was found that it would

probably be necessary to do a map with each participant at their homes, to be able to ensure accuracy, as

participants struggled to do this abstractly.

Participants were taken through the rules and pledgesof PGS. It was outlined that all participants have to

participate under PGS as it is participatory guarantee system, Participants came up with their group name;

the Mametja Sekororo PGS group.

Participants were then tasked with finding another innovative way of using their Tala Tables. MDF and

AWARD are in the process of designing a process for youth involvement in marketing logistics and the Tala

Tables.

Conclusion

Issues that still need attention:

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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•Some participants did not have maps and most ofthe maps of participants were not done properly

drawn as some features on the maps were absent. Participants will then be helped again to draw

their maps.

•There were some participants who mentioned that theywere ready for being part of PGS and also

for being assessed and field visits will be done for those participants.

•Coordinates will also be captured for each of the participants homestead during the field visit.

Market progress: K2C, Hoedspruit farmers marketand Kamogelo market

Written by Betty Maimela

MarketMonitoring case study. Christina Thobejane: February 2021

Christina Thobejane is the Local Facilitator for Sedawa and wasone of the farmers who started with

incorporating bed designs like trench beds and eco-circles in her garden. These results both encourage her

and other farmers in the area to continue to improve. She now has a tunnel

a mandala bed and 20trench beds in her garden, having expanded her

production substantially to incorporate all the available space. She alsohas

around 18 mango trees. Shealso uses mulching and adds kraalmanure to

her beds whenplanting. For water she has drilled a borehole in her yard,

has a 24m3 underground rainwater harvesting tank and 2x5000l JoJotanks.

trenchbeds in her garden. She started growing vegetables, herbs and fruits

in her garden and building her soil by adding compost, kraal manureand

mulching 90% of her garden.

She has included many different crop types in her garden, including herbs,

medicinal and pest repellent plants. She produces a range of herbs and

vegetables for sale and has recentlyalso started to propagate seedlings

which she sells at R1 each.

Figure 36: Right: A trench bed in her tunnel used for seedling propagation.

Prior to lockdown Christina was one ofthe main drivers for the organic

marketing activities in and around Hoedspruit, selling at the Hoedspruit

farmers Market, the Hlokomela Wellness Wednesday market and through

the Hoedpsruit Hub. After lockdown, when these markets were closed

down, she started selling mustard spinach, kale and swiss chard spinach

locally, making close to R100/day. Then she started selling at social grant

pay outs points selling common vegetables like spinach, onions and some

herbs that local people are not familiar with, where she spent time

explaining the uses and medicinal values of the different herbs.

Figure 37: Left:

coriander and fennel

in a trench bed,

produced forlocal

sales and pest

repellent properties,

centre: Marigolds for

pest and nematode

control and Right: A

basin of fever few

plants, that assist

with headaches

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Figure 38: Top left: Mandala bed where she planted swisschard spinach, kale, parsley and sorghum. Top Right

Harvested onionsbeing dried, Bottom Left: Lemon grass which is used to makea tea for high blood pressure and Bottom

Right: White butter beans planted from seeds she got on cross visits with other farmers.

The impact of COVId-19 on themarketing for Christina and otherfarmers likeher, has been significant.

Although the Hoedspruit farmers market has re-opened and Christina and the marketing group sell organic

vegetables there under the K2C from the Region for the Region banner. She now makes on average R350 in

a day at

this

market.

Prior to

lockdown

she made

around

R700 in a

day.

Figure 39:

Christina and K2C staff at their stall at the

monthly Hoedspruit farmers market.

Recently the Kamogelo market has alsoopened. It is another

monthlymarket, where Christina and the group sells. Even here

earnings are a bit low averaging around R150 -R400 per day of selling.

Figure 40: The market staff for the farmers

with Christina selling at the Kamogelo

market in Hoedspruit.

Christina explained themoney they

made at farmers’ markets was helping

so many families. Having a place where

they take their produce gave all farmers

courage to grow more produce and

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

| 38

make money through selling organic produce. She also explained how happy she was to have access to more

than oneof these markets.

During lockdown, thesudden closureof the markets was a huge shock and farmers lost a lot of produce that

they now could not sell.This was temporarily alleviated when Hlokomela managed to raise some funding

forfood parcels and bought fresh produce form farmers. She also said that even though there are now

markets again that sales are less than before and although she understands that it is due to people having

lost their jobs and there being less money to spend, it also impacts on them and on her ability to make an

income.

Figure 41: Above Left: Incomemade by 5 farmers who sold organicvegetables at the Hoedspruit farmers Market on

the 5th December 2020 and Above right: The stall at the market.

MarketMonitoring case study.Norah Tshetlha:

February 2021

Norah Tshetlha is 83 years old and still a veryactive farmer.She has been

farming since she was very young and raised her kids through farming

income. She has both a big farm and a garden in her homestead. During

this process she has changed her farming to make her furrows and ridges

on contour, add organic matter and she also has 5 trench beds and a

tunnel.

She normallyworks with herunemployed grandchildrenin the garden.

She likes planting common vegetables that she can sell in the community:

Swiss chard spinach, beetroot, mustard spinach, carrots,tomatoes and

onions and she sells them atR10,00/bundle. Nora approached a day care

centre where she supplied them with 30 bundles of spinach every

Wednesday.

Figure 42: Nora Tshetlha with a bundle of spinach from her garden.

Through community level sales, organic markets in Hoedspruit and the

day care centre, Norah was making around R500 a week from vegetable

sales; moneywhich she used to provide education forher grand-children.

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Norah feels that this project has changed her life and helped hertomake a livelihood, where otherwise she

would have suffered.

Norah also makes liquid manure and uses kraal manure on her ridges and trench beds.

She was negatively affected by the lockdown, losing her income for an extended period. She is now selling

again, but at a reduced level, as the day care centre has not re-opened and marketing opportunities are

fewerin the community. She now relies more heavily on the marketing opportunities that MDF haveassisted

with.

Figure 43:Clockwise fromTop Left: A view of her furrows and ridges planted to vegetables, Norah’s liquid manure

and kraal manure and 3 trench beds planted mustard spinach, beetroot and carrots.

Water committees progress update

Introduction

Jo-jo stands that were installed by the contractors – Afrisolutions, have turned outto be sub-standard and

have not held up well under thewight of the full Jo-Jo tanks. As Afrisolutions agreed not to charge for these

stands, a decision was made that MDF would

support the water committees financially to

rectify this situation.

Figure 44: Right: The photo indicates how the

stands in Sedawa have been buckling under the

weight of the Jo-jo tanks. Damage was also done to

the connecting piping due to the shifting of the

tanks.

In January, given the high levels of rainfall

participants stopped pumping waterinto the

tanks, to allow for the stands to be fixed. Betty contacted KM Bolt to get quotations of materials that will

be needed to fix the stands and got quotations from three local welders in the villages. She opted to work

with Manaso Seotlo, the son of one of the learning group members, as his quote was the most reasonable.

Manaso started working on all the Jo-jo stands after small meetings with the water committees to explain

the process to them.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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More solid frames were welded for the tanks, as well as a solid platform of bar piping. Manaso also re-

connected all the pipes and fittings, but the pipes at Sedawa had to be replaced as they were all damaged.

Then he tested the pipes and fittings by pumping water into the Jo-jo tanks and filling them and the stands

were observed to twoweeks to ensure their stability.

Figure 45: Clockwisefrom top left to bottom right: The

new stand structure, to which the bar platform is then

welded, after which the piping was reconnected and fixed

and the final new stands in Sedawa.

6.2Village Savingsand Loan Associations (VSLAs) and

enterprise development

Written by Thembani Mhabunda

Enterprise Development Follow-up

A follow up on business ideas offarmers were donein thevillages wheretheEnterprise Development

workshops were done. The focus of the follow up was on the progress of the enterprises to date and the

challenges faced by the entrepreneurs. The feedback of the progress of the enterprises to date and the

challenges faced by the entrepreneur are listed in the red columns in the tables below.

It is clear that group business ideas are not doing well at all due tothe fact that participants prefer working

individually ratherthan in groups. Start-up capital is also an obstacle to the participants and some

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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participants mentioned that they don’t want to take loans for starting a business from the savings groups

since the money is paidback with interest and also that the loan money is not enough to start some particular

business. However, some participants are operating profitable businesses through the help of savings group

loans. Covid-19 also had a negative impact on participants businesses or business ideas since gathering was

prohibited hence businesses were not thriving. For participants who were planning on or running vegetable

businesses, high levels of rainfall have caused damage in their gardens and to their crops.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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Table 4: Enterprise Development Follow-up for Sedawa participants

Enterprise

Description

Name/s of

Entreprene

ur/s

Status

Target

Customers

Key Strategy

Support Required

Next Action:

Entrepreneur

Progress of Enterprises to

date

Challenges faced by the

Entrepreneur

Food/Grocery

Malepe

Mercy

Stokvel

buying groceries at

a stock price and

selling to grocery

stokvels.

Transportation

None

The Food/grocery business

is still a planned business

Currently selling snacks at

school

COVID-19 wasa challenge

since schools were closed

Egg layers

Magdeline

Malepe

Households

Local Shops

Already growing

traditional chickens

Requires skill and

knowledge

support from MDF

Currently

growing the

business

96 egg layers were

purchased

Eggs are being produced

each day

Planning to get a second

batch of layers

5 chickens out of 96 died

Transportation is an obstacle

Difference in egg size is also

a hurdle

None consistencein egg

production

Pricing the eggs

Spaza Shop

Thea

Morema

Kids

Selling icecream,

drinks, and snack

for kids

MDF tocontinue

giving her skills

and supervision

Raising capital

to expand the

business

Spaza shop is still running

Business is slow

Stock in thespaza shop

doesn’t go as expected

(Stock get outdated)

Cropping and

hat production

Mmakopila

Seotlo

Churches

Doing and Selling

hats to ZCC

members

Capital Support.

Has the skill and

knowledge

Expanding the

business using

her stokvel

share-out

Still a planned business.

Start- up capital

Saloon

Fridah

Thobejane

Local

residences

Selling hair products

Raise enough

capital to start

the enterprise

Still a planned business

Start-up capital

Crafting

Lawrence

Motshana

Households

Local shops

Planning to do and

sell wooden spoon

also thinking ofsell

firewood

Technicaland

management skills

Will use donkeys

to deliver the

firewood

Crafting is stilla planned

business

Currently selling fire wood

to thecommunity using a

cart

Donkeys used to carry the

Cart sometimes get lost

The cart does not have

proper tires dueto lack of

money to buy new tires.

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Enterprise

Description

Name/s of

Entreprene

ur/s

Status

Target

Customers

Key Strategy

Support Required

Next Action:

Entrepreneur

Progress of Enterprises to

date

Challenges faced by the

Entrepreneur

Sewing,

mending clothes

Thamara

Malepe

School kids

Has the sewing

machine and the

skill and knowledge

Technicaland

business

management skills

None

Still an operational

business

Selling to school kids

COVID-19 wasa challenge

since schools were closed

Farming crops

Sekgobela

Ronny

Households

Business

Selling vegetables

to the local people

Technicaland

business

management skills

Using the profit

to expand the

business.

Opened a spaza-shop

Running a transportation

business transporting

school kids.

They take long to pay him

the monthlytransportation

fee.

Stock in thespaza shop

doesn’t go as expected

(Stock get outdated)

Spaza shop

Daphney

Maphoru

Households

Has been selling

snacks in the shop,

None

The vegetable business is

operational.

Currently also selling

snacks to kids

She gives creditto school

kids and they take time to

repay.

Egg layers

Christina

Thobejane

Households

Local shop

Will use her bakkie

to deliver the eggs

to costumers and go

to pension pay out

to sell

RequiresSkill and

Knowledge

support from MDF

Raising enough

Capital to start

selling seeds

Still a planned business

Start-up capital

KEY - 1: Planned business | 2: Start-up Business | 3: Operational Business

Table 4”Enterprise Development Follow-up for Turkey participants

Enterprise

Description

Name/s of

Entreprene

ur/s

Status

Target

Customers

Key Strategy

Support Required

Next Action:

Entrepreneur

Progress of Enterprises to

date

Challenges faced by the

Entrepreneurs

Vegetables

Team

Impala(Pala)

Reckson’s

Group

Households

Selling organic

vegetable around

the community

MDF tocontinue

to give

Supervision

Use profit to sell

paraffin around

the community

Still a planned business

Challengewith starting a group

business

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Broilers

Team

Buffalo(Nari)

Alfred’s

Group

Households

Selling broilers

during Christmas

and events around

the community.

Have limited skill,

requiressupport

from MDF

None

Still a planned business

Members are planning their

business individually

Challengewith starting a group

business

Start-up capital

Broilers

Team duiker

(Phuti)

Tshehla’s

Group

Household

Selling broilers to

the local

community.

MDF tocontinue

giving them

supervision

None

Still a planned business

They will seek help from

department of agriculture

Challengewith starting a group

business

Start-up Capital

KEY - 1: Planned business | 2: Start-up Business | 3: Operational Business

Table 5: Enterprise Development Follow-up for Santeng and Willows Participants

Enterprise

Description

Name/s of

Entreprene

ur/s

Status

Target

Customers

Key Strategy

Support Required

Next Action:

Entrepreneur

Progress of Enterprises to

date

Challenges faced by the

Entrepreneurs

Vegetables

Group 1

Nomsa’s

Group

Households

Local shops

Town shops

Government

They plan to grow

produce required by

shops in town

Will rely on MDF to

provide technical,

business and

marketing skills

Continue to

participate in

CRA training

offered by MDF

Operational business

Selling individually

Been selling to households

and town shops.

Currently planting green

papers and chilies

Too much rain has been a

problem ascrops were

washed away

Challengewith running a

group business

Broilers

Group 2

Naume’s

Group

Households

Each member will

contribute R200 to

start the business

Production and

business skills

Will let MDF

know when

membershave

made their

contributions

Still a planned business

Start-up capital

Vegetables

Group 3

Fridah’s

Group

Households

Local shops

To use VSLA to

advance their

business practice

MDF tocontinue

giving them skills

and supervision

Grow own

seedlingsand

save seeds for

following years

An operational business

Selling to households

around the community

Currently planting green

beans

Too much rain has been a

problem ascrops were

washed away

Vegetables

Group 4

Moses’s

Group

Households

Local shops

Specifically want to

grow cabbage,

tomatoes, spinach,

Havelimited

skills, but will rely

Will work

towards growing

the business

Still an operational

business

Too much rain has been a

problem ascrops were

washed away

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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carrots, etc. for

local market

through PGS

on MDF to advance

their skills

Busy planting different

crops

Egg layers

Group 5

Jerry’s

Group

Households

Local shops

Plan to start small,

sell to local

householdsand

graduallygrow

bigger. This will be

made possible by

investing profit

back in the business

MDF to provide

technical and

entrepreneurship

training and

supervision

Raise enough

capital to start

the enterprise

Still a planned business

Challengewith starting a

group business

Vegetables

Group 6

Ella’s Group

Households

Local shops

Plan to sell to

supermarkets in

town; and plan to

advancetechnical

and

entrepreneurship

skills

MDF to assist in

production,

securing markets

and

entrepreneurship

Will find bigger

production plot,

sink a borehole

and buy

production

equipment

Still a planned business

Busy planting different

crops

Too much rain has been a

problem ascrops were

washed away

Broilers

Group 7

Getrude’s

Group

Caterers

Shisanyama

Businesses

Will raise money

and attend training

workshops

Technicaland

business

management skills

Will assess

potential

customers

further

Still a planned business

Have not started with

anything

Start-up capital

Broilers

Group 8

Hunadi’s

Group

Households

Stokvels

Shisanyama

Caterers

Will secure

production credit

from theVLSA,use

profitto grow

business and to give

microloans to local

people

Technicaland

business

management skills

Secure

production

credit from VSLA

Still a planned business

Individualsare starting

their own business

Havea challenge ofworking

as a group

KEY - 1: Planned business | 2: Start-up Business | 3: Operational Business

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Enterprise Development casestudy: Magdelina Malepe

February 2021 AWARD Newsflash

AWARD partner Mahlathini Development Foundation (MDF) has been supporting small-scalefarmers in

Sekororo with enterprise development and at the same time contributing to food security in the area. This

case study gives insight on how Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) are helping break barriers to

food security and, by example, showing how the savings groups can be used to run andoperate profitable

business.

A year ago theVSLAs concept was introduced to the community and specifically to the farmers who are

participating in the farming learning groups. Enterprise Development (ED) training was provided to

demonstrate how small-scale farmers canuse money they have saved throughVSLAs in conjunction with the

knowledge from the ED training to start and operate profitable business enterprises.

Magdeline Malepe, a 58-year-old woman from Sedawa, a village in Maruleng municipality, isoneof the

farmers whobenefited from the ED training. After the ED training in October 2020, Magdeline decided to

start a poultry business. She purchased her first 96 layers as a start-up and has not looked back.

Figure 46: MagdelineMalepe withher

egg laying chickens

With thehelp of the savingsgroup,

it was possible for Magdeline to build

a poultry house while also selling

vegetables to the surrounding

communities and to bigger markets

such as the monthly Farmers Market

and Kamogelo Market around

Hoedspruit.

Magdeline Malepe is always one step ahead; she knowshow to run a profitable business. She has been

recording the production of eggs each day since the hens started laying eggs last year.

Figure 47: Egg records of

Magdeline’s business

A business is not without

challenges.Despite the

major achievement and

progressof Magdeline’s

poultry business, there are

still some obstacles:

1.Transportis an

obstacle for small

businesses.

Magdeline needs to

get chicken feed

and shedoes not have a car.The chickens sometimes go for days without food and this disturbs egg

production.

2.Chicken deaths: five of 96 chickens have died.

3.Difference in egg size can cause difficulties. Customers want the same size for the same price.

Despite these problems, demand is always higher than supply.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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VSLA Progress

Introduction

It has been over six (6) months since the introduction of the Village Savings and Loan Associations in Lower

Olifants Basin and the VSLA groups are

getting bigger and strongerevery savings

meeting. The cases of Covid-19 along the

lower Olifants Basin were at a peak in early

2021 hence supervision for the savings

groups were not provided in January2021.

Furthermore, facilitators who supervised

the savingsgroups had to isolate and

quarantine for seven days before going to

the field. However, groups that were left

behind in terms of understanding the rules

and regulations of a savings group were

assisted telephonically.

Figure 48: Willwos VSLA share out meeting in

January 2021.

6.2.3.1.1VSLAs Groups Challenges

Despite the progressmade there aresome challenges that are currently faced by the groups or that have

occurred through the process of growing. The challenges are as follows:

1.As the VSLA cycle approaches the end, money inside thebox increase and this becomes a challenge

to the members of the savings groupsastheybecome worried about their money. Due tothis

challenge, most groups after each savings meetingwant to leave the box empty and this becomes

a hurdle as members take loans without a plan on how they are going to use the loans, some

members are then forced to take loans and gokeep the moneyat their residences just forsafe

keeping.

2.In all the groups there aresome of the members that only buy shares anddonot take loans, and

this becomes an obstacle as members that are taking loans complain thatthey are making interest

to members who are not taking loans.

3.Members who fail to pay back the loans in the allocated four months becomes a stumbling block to

the group as other members in the groups wants to kick out those members without their concern.

4.Members are used to getting loans on the basis of two times the value of shares they have in the

group and as this changes from the 6thmonth of savings, it becomes a hurdle and members now

complain.

5.One of the key holders amongst the groups had lost the keys of the box and thebox had tobe broken

tobe opened. The key holders of that group then insisted and agreed that each key holder should

keep every key for the two padlocks rather than one person keeping all keys for each padlock for

the box.

6.All the VSLA groups started in the middle of the year last year and it has come to my attention that

some of the VSLA groups prefer to starttheir groups at the beginning of the year in January and end

it in December. Due to this issue, there were complications in some of the groups as they wanted

to do share-out in Januarysothat they can start afresh and can be able to do their share out in

December. Groups were advised to extend their saving cycle by 6 months so that theycan do share-

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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out in December,however there is one group who did not take the advice anddid share-outin

January and started from scratch.

6.2.3.1.2VSLAs Groups updates

The following are general updates of the VSLAs groups in the Lower Olifants Basin:

•The Setshwa Meetsi learning group inSedawa village has saved the mostandhas also issued and

repaid the highest amount of loans. In January 2021, the group did not meet for their monthly

savings meeting due to lack of finances to buy shares and repay loans. The group then decided to

meet in February 2021 without any supervision and decided to put their savings in a bank account

since they were concerned that themoney is getting too muchinside the box,overR25000 of

savings was taken to be saved at Capitec Bank.

•Regakgona group from Santeng village has extendedtheir savings cycle from 12 months of savings

to 18 months of savings, they will have their share-out on December 2021.

•The Epopeng saving group from the Willows village is thegroup that decidedto end their saving

cycle atsix months tostart afresh from January. Most members in the groupmentioned that they

want to use the money to pay school fees for their children and buy uniforms for them. Through

MDF experience the money from the first savings cycleis mainly used toresolve their immediate

financial challenges (consumption smoothing) before achieving the other goals of VSLA.

Table 6: Willows share out information for January 2021

Total number of Savings Group shares = R25 800

Total number of Group Fund = R3 0360

New Value of Share = R117,67

Book No

Initials

Surname

Total Shares

Share pay-out

Mahloko

R823

M.O

Lestwalo

R1176

P.A

Ramoshaba

R2000

L.K

Pako

R5648

H.B

Mogofe

R706

Shai

R1529

Mogofe

R706

E.T

Thete

R1059

B.F

Mashego

R941

S.K

Maile

R823

Mogofe

R823

K.E

Mokome

R3647

Malepe

R823

G.S

Mogofe

R823

Shai

R1412

Pako

R1529

Mogofe

R1294

M.J

Lewele

R706

Mmola

R3883

The total amount of the group fund at share-out was R30 360 with 258 of total shares of the group which is

equivalent to R25 800. The share pay-out ranged from as little as R706 to a maximum of R5 648.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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6.2.3.1.3 VSLA progress summary

The VSLAs have been active and saving and taking out small loans, with all groups doing well. Atotal of

R226 600 has been saved in the 9 VSLAs to date and R616275 small loans have been taken, between the 154

participants active in these groups, as shown in the small table below.

Village

Savings

Members

Loans

# VSLAs Groups

Worcester

R23 700

R 62 100

Santeng

R14 000

R 54 800

Sedawa

R71 700

R 252 435

Turkey

R50 000

R 158 060

The Willows

R43 400

R 57 080

Maderia

R23 800

R 31 800

Total

R226 600

154

R 616 275

The total amount of money saved in the groups, whenrepaid loans are included is R1323 335.00, which is

an impressive sum and averaged around R8 593 per participant.

The figure below outlines the savings made in the 9 VSLAs in operation.

Figure 49: Total monies saved by all 9 VSLAs to date. Note: The two yellow columns are for the two groups that have

recently undertaken their annual share outs.

7Monitoring, evaluation and learning

(MEL) plan

7.1Framework &indicators

Below is a summary of implementation according toour indicators for November 2020-April 2021

R23 700.00

R14 000.00

R33 800.00

R25 600.00

R17 600.00

R19 100.00

R30 900.00

R23 800.00

R17 200.00

R20 700.00

R 0.00

R5 000.00

R10 000.00

R15 000.00

R20 000.00

R25 000.00

R30 000.00

R35 000.00

R40 000.00

Share value

VSLA Groups

Savings

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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Indicator

Overall target

Actual (November

2020-April 2021)

No of participants in learning groups

370(449)

155

No of learning groups

9-12(13)

-Noof local facilitators

Percentage of participants engaged in CCadaptation

responses

1-2 (45%)

2-3 (25%)

>3 (10-15%)

40%

35%

25%

No of participants experimenting with new

innovations:

-local

-co-designed

15%

45%

65%

No of participants showing increased knowledge

35%

Not assessed in this period

Percentage ofparticipants engaged in collaborative

activities (water committees), marketing)

35%

33%%

Percentage of participants with improved livelihoods

-increased availability of food

-increased income

-increased diversity of activities and livelihoods

options

40%

35%

13%

3,5%

Qualitative assessments:

-stakeholderengagement

-Increased understanding and agency to acttowards

increased resilience

- Adaptation and innovations into local context

-Potential for increased resilience

-Social engagement

Stories, case

studies (5-6), CC

impact summaries

(4), best practices

booklet

2 CAimplementation case

studies; Mashego Shaiand

Meiiea Mokoena

2 Marketing case studies;

Christina Thobejaneand

Norah Tsethla

1 ED case study: Magdelina

Malepe

7.2Garden monitoring

Introduction

Garden monitoring has been changed toadd PGSassessment criteria, to allow for alignment of both

activities. The newmonitoring model helpsfarmers to know how far they aretobe assessed and what to

improve to be able to beorganically endorsed. Garden monitoring was first done with participants that are

in the process and are part of the PGS programme and workshop session. This monitoring tool isused as a

guide to farmers and evaluation tool of how farmers are improving to meet the SAOSA organic standard.

Garden monitoring was done both at Sedawa, Mametja and Turkey during January and February,where most

farmers have planted their summer crops like maize, ground nuts, cowpeas, Bambara nuts, sweet potatoes

and pumpkins,with fewervegetables in the garden. Most farmers have implemented thefive finger

principles in theirgardens (Water management, soil erosion management, soil fertility management, crop

management and natural resources management).

Water management

Firstly, there are a number of water management practices that are put in place, such as rainwater

harvesting through using furrows and ridges, gutters for collecting water and storing in jo-jo tanks, the use

of greywater for irrigation, mulching and planting of cover crops and legumes in their garden.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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Figure 50: Above Left: An example of a tower garden and Above Right: Planting of cowpeas as a cover crop with

maize.

Figure 51: Above Left to right: Sophie Moloto’s Jo-Jo tank for rainwater harvesting. A tube used by Sofie to mix

greywater with ash prior to use a bananabasin in MmaditiroMoradiye’s garde and Far-Right dry grass as a mulch for

a trench bed.

Soil movement control

These are practices that control and reduce wind

and water erosion, of soil and include,soil cover,

stone lines, furrows and ridges, swales,

Figure 52: Clockwise from Top Left: Stone lines,

Intercropping of mazie and legumes on contour with

mulching by Matshego Shai and Violet Magobatlou’a

furrows and ridges planted to sweet potatoes, next to

a banana basin.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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soil health improvement

Figure 53:

Clockwise frrm

Top Left: Nomsa

Mafologlele from

Staneg has 8

trench beds in

her garden to

improve soil

fertility and she

really loves the

results, Meisie

Mokwena makes

her own compost

and she adds it

to her trench

beds and fruit

tree basins to

improve soil

health,

Magdalene

Malepe adds

chicken manure

in her garden

from, furrows

and ridges in

Norah Tsethla’s

garden, mulched

with composted

manure added –

shown in the

Bottom Left

picture

Crop management

This includes intercropping, mixed cropping, crop diversification and natural pest and disease control.

Figure 54: Farmers are implemented most of the practices that were introduced, they do mixed cropping of repellent

flowers, herbs and vegetables on their trench beds and mandala beds. Daphney Maphuru made her own liquid manure

using bush basil for pests and disease control.

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

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Natural resources management

This includes planting of indigenous and medicinal plants.

Figure 55: Trona Morema is one of the farmers who has a small nursery where she propagates organic mango

seedlings and small trees for sale locally.

PGS and Garden monitoring assessments

Here an e-survey was designed and administered to 20 participants in Turkey, Sedawa and Mametja

between November 2020 and February 2021, to get an indication of PGS organic endorsement readiness.

Table 5: PGS and Garden monitoring categories and monitoring assessments for 20 participants: Nov 2020-Feb 2021

PGS and Garden monitoring categories and assessments.

Assessment

Name and

Surname

Infiltration,

crusting, runoff

Organic matter

Greywater

RWH & storage

Irrigation

Water quality

Improvedcrop

management

Continuity

NP&D control

No of crop types

Crops

assessment

Fruit types and

no,

Fruit ass, incl

management

Livestock

integration

Food availability

Selling

Green

Yellow

Red

Mohlala Sara

5; 27

64%

36%

Magalangake Mogale

5;12

43%

14%

Sara Madire

4;22

50%

29%

21%

Shadrack Masete

5;6

79%

14%

Christina Thobejane

5;36

93%

Daphney Maphuru

8;25

71%

21%

Moses Mogofe

5;24

57%

43%

Isaac Malatjie

2;5

14%

29%

57%

Mmatshego Shai

7;36

79%

21%

Malepe Lethabo

3;12

79%

Maanawe Gladys

Shai

3;8

29%

43%

29%

Meisie Mokwena

6;11

50%

43%

Magdalena Malepe

4;20

71%

29%

Joyce Seotlo

6;14

29%

43%

29%

Makibeng Moradiye

4;6

50%

36%

14%

Martha Moloto

5;13

43%

36%

21%

Trona Morema

9;19

43%

50%

Sophy Moloto

2;14

43%

14%

Mmaditiro Moradiye

9;49

64%

29%

Norman Mashinye

8;24

50%

36%

14%

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From this table there are 13 of the 20 participants assessed who are considered ready forPGS endorsement,

another 6 who will need to improve their practises to be eligible and 1 participant who is not eligible. All

20 participants areundertaking organic farming; the formal PGS assessment is nowpossible for the

participants who have a green score.

A scale has been designed to be able to assess each category,according to the number of practises

undertaken to within that category. The small table below provides the outline.

Table 6: PGS assessments categories and scales linked to the “traffic light” colour coded assessment process for

garden monitoring and PGS organic endorsement.

Assessment category

Practises assessed

Infiltration

No runoff, diversion ditches, stone lines, mulching, dedicated beds, planting flowers,

hedges and trees (6 practices:2=red, 3-4=yellow and 5-6 =green)

Organic matter

Manure, compost, Conservation Agriculture, beds (trenches, eco-circles), liquid

manure, legumes (6 practices: 2=red, 3-4=yellow and 5-6 =green)

Greywater

use, ash, tower gardens (3 practises: 0=red; 1-2 =yellow and 3=green)

RWH & storage

drums, Jo-Jo tank with gutters, run-on, underground tanks, small dams, basins

(6 practices:2=red, 3-4=yellow and 5-6 =green)

Irrigation

Home-made watering cans, pipes, drip irrigation (3 practises: 0=red; 1-2 =yellow and

3=green)

Water quality

Boreholes, rainwater, spring water piped from the mountains, municipal water (4

practises: 0=red, 1-2 =yellow, 3-4 =green

Improved crop

management

Mixed cropping, diversification (incl new crop types), crop rotation (3 practises: 0=red;

1-2=yellow and 3=green)

Continuity

Seedling production, seed saving, nursery and propagation (3 practises: 0=red; 1-2

=yellow and 3=green)

Natural pest and

disease control

Mixed cropping, pest repellent species, pest control brews (3 practises: 0=red; 1-2

=yellow and 3=green)

No of crop types

Veg, field crops, herbs: No of crops: 1-5= red, 6-10=yellow and>11=green

Fruit

Types and no of fruit trees, management (pruning, composting) ( ≤3 types and ≤10

trees=red, 3-5 types 10-20 trees=yellow, ≥5 types and ≥20 trees=green)

Livestock

Poultry, goats, cattle, housing managed, feed managed, manure used, fodder crops

planted (Nolivestock=red, 1 type inclusive ofmanagement and use of manure= yellow,

more than one type inclusive of management and use of manure=green)

Food availability

1-2 crop types 1-2x/week= red; 2-3 crop types 2-3x/week= yellow and 3 crop types >3

times per week=green

Sale

locally, farmers markets, schools and events (3 practises: 0=red; 1-2 =yellow and

3=green)

8Work Plan for Milestone 6

Below a brief assessment of progress for each of the activities mentioned for the previous work plan is

provided.

1.Continue construction of the second batch of20 shade

cloth tunnels

Finalised end February 2021 (40 tunnels)

2.Continue monthly VSLA support for the 9 groups initiated

Two share out meetings have been held,

alongside the monthly savings meetings

MILESTONE 5: REVIEW AND NETWORKING (1): PROGRESS REPORT.

| 55

3.Continue with modules 4-7 of theenterprise

development training for the 3 groups (Santeng, Sedawa

and Turkey)

Finalised and Enterprisedevelopment follow-up

undertaken

4.Continue with PGStraining workshops 4-7 in partnership

with AWARD in Sedawa, Mametja, Willows and Turkey

Workshop 4 conducted.

5.Continue organic marketing processes with 30

participants with Hlokomela and K2C

Done

6.Run CCA planning workshops in Madeira and Mulalani

Done

7.Learning and mentoring workshops in agroecology and

CRA practices; including naturalpest and disease control,

Conservation Agriculture, seed saving and crop calendars

in 6 villages

Done: Learning in Conservation Agriculture,

seed saving, soilfertility, liquid manureand

tower gardensundertaken

8.Compile aproposal for support in water provision

activities in Santeng, Sedawa 2, Turkey 1 and Madeira

Submitted to both Americanand Canadian

embassies with no success

9.Garden level monitoring using e survey for a minimum of

60 participants

Done for 30 participants

10. Soil and water testing for the PGS groups

Soil sampling and analysis done for 10

participants

11. Initiate mango marketing system through M-Pak as

mangoes become ready (December-March)

Due to extreme weather I theearly season there

were almost no mangoesleft on the trees and

little to no harvests have been realized.

8.1Work plan for April - September 2021.

Below a brief work plan is presented:

1.Initiate second round of tunnel construction for 36 remaining tunnels,

2.Finalise PGS training forthe 30 participants (sessions 5 and 6) and support the Pollinator programme

to set up a smallholder PGS certification for !12 participants,

3.Continuation with marketing, VSLA and Enterprise development activities on a monthly basis,

4.Learning and mentoring sessions for 6-9 villages in food processing and value adding and soil and

water conservation for all groups,

5.Learning and mentoring in bed design, liquid manures, natural pest and disease control, mixed

cropping and cropping calendars for new groups and new participants in existing groups

6.Continuation with sale of improved mango varieties to participants,

7.Seasonal review and planning sessions for 5-8 learning groups and

8.Garden open day and cluster review and networking session.