Enhancing Farmer Capacity in order to facilitate

market orientation and Organic Farming

Project Co-coordinator
Mr Yasier Gabriels
 Pilot Project Report

Name of Project: Enhancing Farmer Capacity in order to facilitate market

orientation and Organic Farming

Project Location: Phillipi area, Cape Town, South Africa

Implementation Period: May 2008 to December 2008 (although this is part of a

larger poverty alleviation urban agriculture project that is on-going)

Total Budget: R8 million (approx 700 000 euro)

RUAF Contribution: R160 000 (approx 14000 euro)

Name of the coordinator and name, postal address, tel/fax of the

coordinating organization:

Applicant: Muslim Judicial Council (MJC)

Address: P.O Box 42870,

Schaapkraal, Philippi Horticultural Area
Ottery
Republic of South Africa

Telephone: +27-217037521 - Fax +27-0866108805

Project Co-coordinator: Mr Yasier Gabriels

Email Address: yasierg@mjc.org.za
Mobile: 083 4081159
Project Summary

The pilot project is part of a bigger multi-year project called the poverty alleviation
project (PAP). This is an anchor project of the Muslim Judicial Council Poverty
Eradication Project. PAP was established to explore and exploit the opportunity
in the agriculture sector for food, security job creation and wealth creation for the
poor and marginalized.

PAP, through a public engagement process mobilized the non-farmer

landowners of the Philippi Horticultural Area, where the project is located.
Our express commitment is to utilize their fallow land in an organized
and multidisciplinary manner and to bring it under production.

A key product of the process was the establishment of Agricultural Resource

Information Centre (AgRIC) that will facilitate an enabling environment for the
sustainable human development. Since its inception in 2006 the AgRIC
has evolved into a significant instrument for social and economic
transformation in the agricultural sector.

The AgRIC is directly linked to a government built and owned fresh produce
market which requires the evolution of 2500 new farmers to produce from
5000 hectares of land. The AgRIC is currently training a batch of 14 emerging
farmers on 4 hectare of land. The emerging farmers produce is directly sold
to the market.

The Pilot project is not a stand-alone project but an auxiliary to the AgRIC.
The pilot project complements the capacity of the AgRIC to help fulfill its
mandate to the beneficiaries and deepen the quality of benefit.

2.1 Key problems

The emerging farmer produce is destined for the market directly from the
ground. As it will take some time before the quality of their produce
and economies of scale can compete with that of the established
commercial farmers, their return from their sales will remain minimal.
One of the negative consequences of this situation is that agriculture
will not be an attractive economic activity for the marginalized
communities nor will it be a viable career option for the youth.
Furthermore the trainee farmers face a major challenge in
establishing new markets and making sustained profits with produce
that has not been graded, packed or preserved before marketing.
2.2 Proposal

The pilot project proposed the following attachment/expansion to the

AgRIC:

 Construction of a cold room

 Construction of a facility for sorting, grading and packing
 Branding of the produce coming from the AgRIC Programme
 Establishing the first batch of 14 emerging farmers into a legal
entity such as a co-operative
 Contracting the services of an experienced farmer as a mentor
 Introducing a strong nutrition and organic component to the training
 Introducing an outreach programme in order to quickly reach out
more than the initially trained 14 farmers

Implementing Organizations

Organization Contribution

Department of Agriculture  9 year crop production research

on PAP Farm
 Training, farming skills/methods
 Mechanization center (tractor
+accessories
Department of Social  R4.1 million over three years
Development
City of Cape Town  Farming tools and accessories

Department of Labour  Funded skills training

Philippi Fresh Produce Market  Purchaser of produce from

emerging farmers
Labour Job Creation Trust  Funding of infrastructure
establishment of AgRIC
Landorf Nurseries  Provision of seedlings to AgRIC
 Provision of land on lease for
Landowners crop production
RUAF  Skills training in safe use of
urban organic wastes
  Funding of nutrition training for
farmers
 Funding of an outreach
programme by farmers to
community gardens

Outputs and Results Achieved

The project sought to achieve the following objectives:

 Introduce a strong nutrition and organic training component to the 10

emerging farmers
 Enhance the 10 farmers‟ capacity to sort, pack, and brand produce for the
market
 Train the farmers practically through a farmer mentorship programme
 Reach out to 50 other low income producers through a farmer to farmer
outreach programme

Results

 The 14 farmers received intensive training on organic farming. They were

able to practice what they were taught as they implemented the concepts
on the land. The following extract from the Impact Monitoring report also
further demonstrate the outcome of the training: „When asked about
how the training has helped them, the farmers agreed that the
training was beneficial. Some of their responses include:

“The training on farming gave us knowledge.”

“I learnt how to plant and I like to plant.”

“When we started, it was good to get training, as other farmers use

fertilizers and we don‟t, because we use organic methods.”
 In order to introduce farmers to packing, sorting, and grading, a pack shed
was constructed at the pilot project site. The farmers received training and
are packing, sorting, and grading produce for the market. The 14 farmers
 are also sharing in the benefits from the produce coming out of the farm
as they are undergoing training. In an interview with the project
coordinator, it was indicated that the farmers each received R2000 from
their share of the produce in November 2008.

Some members of the Cape Town team pose in front of the pack shed constructed
with funds from the RUAF CFF Project at the pilot project site

 The farmer mentorship programme has been on-going since July 2008.
The farmers were exposed to a practical mentorship training whereby they
received hands-on tuition from an experienced farmer.
 The outreach programme started rather late in the project duration. Due to
the late implementation of the pilot, the capacity to reach out by the 14
farmers was only achieved after three months of training. The project
implementors then decided that it was going to benefit more farmers if the
reached out to community gardens rather than individual farmers. The
following farmers benefited and continue to benefit from the farmer
outreach training and support:
Name of Group Male Farmers Female Farmers
Nonkululeko, Gugulethu  2  9
Siyazakha, Langa  0  6
Kwakanye, Langa  2  1
Zenihlale, Gugulethu  3  7
TOTAL  7  23

Other Positive Outcomes

Interviewed individual farmers reported significant increase in incomes and

nutritional status. The following excerpts from the Impact Monitoring Reports
demonstrate these positive outcomes:

Increased Incomes
When asked whether their household financial situation was better, worse or the
same in October as it was in September, all 10 interviewed farmers said that their
household financial situation was better in October. Many said that it was much
better.

Some of the farmers‟ responses to this question are as follows:

“It was much better in October, as I earned R1000 instead of R740 and I
could send more money to my mother.”

“It was better in October, because in September there were days when we
were without food and we had to ask others for help. But in October, it
was better and we had food.”

“It was much better in October, because I was able to pay for more
things.”

“My income was slightly more in October, but my usual expenses were the
same, so I could spoil myself.”

Giving Away Vegetables

A practice that seems fairly common amongst people who practice Urban
Agriculture is the giving away of vegetables to others in the community. Of the
10 farmers interviewed, 5 gave away some vegetables during October that they
got from the MJC farm. These vegetables were given to the farmers‟ neighbours,
friends and relatives living in other households.

Improved Access to productive resources:

During the focus group held with all 14 MJC farmers in October, the farmers were
asked whether the project provides them with any resources to enable them to
farm and, if so, what resources are provided. All 14 farmers agreed that the
project does indeed provide them with productive resources. The resources that
they have access to through the project are:
 Land
 Water
 Seeds
 Compost
 Tools
 Tractor

The farmers agreed that these resources are easily accessible and that the
project allows them to make use of whichever items they feel they need when
they need them. In this way, the project has indeed provided the farmers with
resources that they can use in order to successfully produce outputs and
generate income.

Farmers work at the training centre at MJC as part of the hands-on training

Explications

The factors that have influenced the achievement of the results are varied
and include the following:
 Close monitoring by the other stakeholders in the city
including the City of Cape Town, partner NGOs, University
of Cape Town, and support from the regional RUAF team.
  Practical benefits received by the farmers through stipends,
farm produce, benefit sharing, and satisfaction through
increased knowledge and capabilities
 Moral support from recent developments in the region that
have raised the profile of UA such as the recent food riots,
and the setting up of complimentary bodies such as the
Southern Africa Urban Food Security Project
 Availability of additional resources through the city council,
government departments, and NGOs.

The pilot project dovetailed into the City of Cape Town urban agriculture policy
that seeks to practically support the emergence of farmers from merely
subsistence to a level of market orientation.
It also motivated the establishment and regular meeting of the multi-stakeholder
forum on UA in the Phillipi area.
The pilot project has also motivated the finalization of the UA Strategic Agenda
that has been prepared by the stakeholders and discussed by the forum.

Monitoring
The results were monitored at three levels. At the first level, the implementing
organization was supposed to submit monthly progress reports to the regional
RUAF team and to the Cape Town team. At the second level the Cape Town
team and the RUAF team periodically visited the pilot project site in order to
verify progress reports. At the third and more technical and rigorous level, a
consultant from University of Cape Town did the Impact Monitoring.

Of the three, the third level of Impact Monitoring was the most effective and
regular. The consultant was contracted and paid by RUAF and was therefore
under obligation. The report also appears the most objective since it was purely
scientific in approach and was independent.

Gender and the pilot project

The project contributed to increasing the equality of opportunities for men and
women. In all activities it was made clear that gender had to be considered and
therefore deliberate measures would be taken to address male and female
issues. The men that were involved in the project whether as beneficiaries or
implementors especially benefited as they were exposed to the RUAF gender
checklist and learnt to consider equally men and women and their specific
issues.
The project has also assisted Cape Town men to begin to realize that UA can be
productive and beneficial therefore is not just a „women‟s‟ issue.

Sustainability and Replicability of Results

The pilot project is sustainable. It fed into an existing project that was already
well-conceived and well-thought out. It is well supported by organizations that are
well established and are mandated to drive and support agriculture. Government
is heavily involved through the Department of Agriculture that is leading the
technical side of the project. The City of Cape Town is also strongly involved and
sees this as a way of practically implementing their UA policy. There is land that
will be allocated the trained farmers and support from the resource centre is on-
going. All these factors will therefore make this project sustainable beyond
RUAF.

Government and other partners in Cape Town are already involved providing additional
equipment and resources to the project. This tractor was provided by government

The results can also be replicated. Already the MJC is recruiting other farmers to
be trained once the current „trainees‟ have graduated and move onto their land.
The city is already considering setting up another farmer agriculture resource
centre with relevant government departments. The organic farming movement is
gaining moment spearheaded by some members of the MSF. The outreach to
farmers is already being conducted by Abalimi and therefore should also expand.
The project results will therefore be certain to be replicated.

Finances
The whole RUAF budget of Euro 14 000 was disbursed and has been used up.
The financial report is being finalized by the project implementors.