6. Identification and Selection of Cluster Activities Zero Waste Prefeasibility Report... · 6. Identification and Selection of Cluster Activities ... • Maize (dry land) • Maize

PHASE 1: PRE-FEASIBILITY AND CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT Page 45

NDAKANA ZERO WASTE AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS CLUSTER

Coastal Environmental Services March 18, 2010

6. Identification and Selection of Cluster Activities

6.1 Preliminary Enterprise & Activity List A preliminary list of crops and agricultural products for investigation was compiled based on the original project brief and outcomes of initial meetings with the PSC and stakeholder meeting as well as preliminary brain storming sessions by the project team. These enterprises are listed in alphabetic order:

• Agroecological research and extension

• Algae

• Aquaculture of Finfish & Cherax

• Bamboo Cultivation

• Bamboo Products

• Berry Picking Site

• Biochar

• Biodiesel

• Biogas

• Biomass CHP energy

• Brewery cluster / mead / wine / ethanol

• Canola

• Citrus

• Compost

• Consumer Cooperative

• Essential oils

• Grain sorghum (dry land)

• Hazelnut

• Herbs /Medicinal plants

• Honey production

• Information and Technology Services

• Kiwi

• Maize (dry land)

• Maize Products

• Stone fruit

• Sweet sorghum

• Timber

• Vegetables (dry produce/soups)

• Vegetables Mushrooms

• Nitrogen fixing crops

• Organic beef (pasture based)

• Organic piggery

• Pomegranate

• Processing & Distribution Cooperative

• Soya

• Fresh / cash crops

• Vermicompost

• Wattle / poles

6.2 First Order Enterprise & Activity Assessment

6.2.1 Ranking of activities A preliminary assessment was conducted in order to rank the enterprises and activities criteria such as economic potential, capital costs, jobs creation, counter berry seasonal job creation, promotion of existing human and social capital, use of indigenous knowledge, ecological externalities, cluster alignment, resource recycling & generation, water usage and completion for irrigation. The results of this assessment are detailed in the table below.




Enterprise Eco

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Low

Cap

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ost

Job

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Cou

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eas

on

Em

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Pro

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& S

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Kno

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Syt

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Min

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Clu

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Inde

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reg

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Min

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ter

use

/ co

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tion

for

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gat

ion

Ranking / Score

Honey production 3 3 3 3 4 3 5 5 5 5 5 44

Nitrogen fixing crops 3 4 2 3 3 4 5 5 4 5 3 41

Organic beef (pasture based) 3 4 2 2 4 5 4 5 5 4 3 41

Agroecological research and extension 3 3 2 1 3 5 5 5 3 5 5 40

Vegetables fresh / cash crops 3 3 4 0 5 5 5 4 5 4 2 40

Grain sorghum (dry land) 3 4 3 3 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 39

Maize (dry land) 3 4 2 3 4 5 3 4 4 4 3 39

Mushrooms 3 3 3 5 3 0 4 4 4 5 4 38

Compost 4 3 3 3 3 0 5 5 4 5 2 37

Sweet sorghum 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4 4 4 4 37

Maize Products 4 1 2 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 35

Biogas 3 1 2 1 3 0 4 5 5 5 4 33

Biomass CHP energy 4 0 4 3 3 0 2 5 5 5 2 33

Herbs /Medicinal plants 3 1 3 1 3 2 5 5 4 4 2 33

Organic piggery 3 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 4 5 1 33

Vermi-compost 3 2 2 1 2 0 4 5 5 5 4 33

Processing & Distribution Cooperative 3 2 3 2 3 0 3 5 4 2 5 32

Vegetables (dry produce/soups) 4 3 2 0 3 5 4 4 3 2 2 32

Brewery cluster / mead / wine / ethanol 4 0 3 0 2 2 3 5 5 5 2 31

Hazelnut 3 3 2 0 3 0 5 4 5 3 3 31

Citrus 3 3 2 5 2 1 3 3 3 3 3 31

Bamboo Cultivation 3 4 3 4 2 0 2 4 3 3 2 30

Bamboo Products 4 1 3 2 2 0 3 4 3 3 5 30

Canola 2 4 2 4 3 0 3 3 3 4 2 30

Consumer Cooperative 3 3 3 1 3 2 3 3 2 2 5 30

Information and Technology Services 3 1 2 1 3 5 2 5 2 1 5 30

Timber 3 2 3 3 3 3 2 4 3 2 2 30

Wattle / poles 3 2 3 4 3 2 2 3 4 2 2 30

Essential oils 2 0 3 1 3 0 5 5 4 4 2 29

Soya 2 4 2 3 2 0 3 4 3 3 3 29

Berry Picking Site 4 2 4 0 3 1 3 5 2 3 1 28

Biochar 2 1 3 3 1 0 3 3 5 4 3 28

Pomegranate 3 3 2 3 2 0 3 3 3 3 3 28

Biodiesel 2 1 2 4 3 0 2 4 2 4 3 27

Stone fruit 3 3 2 0 3 1 3 3 4 3 2 27

Algae 3 2 1 0 2 0 5 4 4 5 0 26

Aquaculture Finfish / Cherax 3 1 2 0 2 0 4 5 4 5 0 26

Kiwi 3 1 2 2 2 0 3 3 3 3 2 24

Table 13: First order enterprise ranking assessment of enterprises

Although this screening and ranking approach is helpful in assessing the viability of activities, it is a linear approach which essentially views activities in isolation and so does not fully recognise potential synergies and benefits in relation to other activities and enterprises within a complex zero waste agroecological system. For example, aquaculture and algae production were poorly ranked even though they have good linkages with nutrients fed from biogas digesters and excellent potential to enhance crop production through fertigration whilst providing householders with a sustainable source of protein make them attractive opportunities for households who have both kraal manure and food gardens.




A more detailed assessment was conducted for the specialist fruit and nut crop in the table below.

Table 14: Specialist fruit and nut assessment matrix

Berries Hazelnuts

Pome-

granate Kiwifruit Stonefruit Citrus

Background

Jobs per ha 20 0.5 1 1 1 1

Harvest window Dec-Mar Mar-May Mar - May April May Nov- Mar Mar-Sept

Irrigation type drip drip/micro drip/micro drip/micro drip/micro drip/micro

Irrigation yes supplement yes yes yes

Water requirements winter yes less less less yes

Water requirements 0.500 0.500 0.500 0.500

Establish Cost per ha (excl. land) 63 630R 63 630R 112 128R 71 425R 60 966R

Irrigation 27 000R 27 000R 27 000R 27 000R 27 000R

Plants 19 980R 19 980R 20 000R 27 775R 17 316R

Land prep 13 650R 13 650R 13 650R 13 650R 13 650R

Trellising -R 44 728R -R -R

Labour 3 000R 3 000R 6 750R 3 000R 3 000R

Processing & Packaging

Infrastructure nearest 140km 140km

Packing local build contract build build contract

Cooling local none yes yes yes yes

Storage local build

Pomegranate and Citrus will not require any packing infrastructure as this could be provided for at the planned IDC pack house at Fort Beaufort.

6.3 Second Order Assessment of Crops A further screening of the agricultural potential (opportunities and constraints) of the proposed crops included an assessment against the following criteria:

• Soil properties (types and classes) and their implications on enterprise selection.

• Availability of areas for cultivation

• Availability of water

• Climatic conditions and their influence on enterprise selection.

• Markets and their influence on enterprise selection and profitability.

• Skills levels and production preferences of the producers.

• Counter season to berry farming

For the purpose of this exercise, existing crops such as maize, beans, cabbages and potatoes that are known to grown well in the area were not ranked, although some of them are mentioned in the AGIS assessment in section 6.3.1.4.1 below.

The proposed ‘specialist crops’ earmarked for cultivation on communal farm land were assessed using these criteria and the results of this assessment are given in the table below:




Table 15: Screening matrix for specialist crop production

Haz

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ts

Her

bs

Kiw

i

Pom

egra

nate

s

Sto

ne fr

uit

Citr

us

Bam

boo

(irrig

ated

)

Bam

boo

(dry

land

)

Gra

in S

orgh

um

Sw

eet S

orgh

um

Soil suitability X √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Availability of areas for cultivation* √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Availability of water √ √ √ √ √ √ X √ √ √

Climatic / Altitude conditions X √ √ √ √ X X √ √ √

Markets √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Skills level requirements √ √ X √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Counter season to berry farming √ N/A √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

* There is a total of 50 ha with access to an existing water source suitable for irrigation

The results of the screening process indicate that pomegranates and the dry land production of bamboo, grain sorghum and sweetsorgum are viable. The detail behind this screening are outlined in the sections 6.3.1.1 to 6.3.1.7 below.

6.3.1.1 Soil properties The soils in the areas allocated to the crop production were generally of medium potential and classed as moderately suitable for agricultural development. The average effective depth of these soils being approximately 600mm. There are two main soil types. One in the red soils and the other in the soils with a grey top soil. All the sub-soils are poorly drained and have a high clay content which inhibits moisture penetration.

The soils should be suitable for the cultivation of most crops selected except that the poor substructure below 600mm could be a limiting factor for the cultivation of hazelnuts as they generally prefer deep soils with good substructure.

6.3.1.2 Area availability for cropping activities A primary concern expressed as an outcome for the stakeholder engagement with both the community and the chief was that any new agricultural activity should not impact on availability of grazing land. This restricts cropping activities on tribal land to:

• household gardens: 90ha cultivated at present, potentially 180ha.

• arable plots already allocated for cultivation: 130 ha available

• previously cultivated tribal farmlands: 180ha

• land reclaimed from wattle infestation: 100-150ha

• pasture land traded for land reclaimed from wattle infestation

The State land that lies to the West of the study area is divided between pastures and

Crops such as Herbs, Berries, Citrus, Hazelnut, Herbs, Kiwi, Pomegranate & Stone fruit usually require a minimal scale of at least 8ha and they would be best implemented on private land or on previously cultivated community farm land. It is possible for householders to develop small orchards on their properties which could be managed through the proposed local agricultural extension programme. An assessment will be needed to assess the competitiveness of this opportunity in relation to losses of intensive vegetable garden space.




Bamboo will require a minimum scale of at least 100 ha (preferably irrigated). It may be possible to cultivate this in some of the lower lying lands that be reclaimed from wattle as bamboo will out-compete the wattle for light and prevent its regrowth.

6.3.1.3 Water availability for irrigation The location and abstraction volume of water sources for irrigation is a serious constraint. As discussed in section 2.3, the existing potential sources of abstraction for irrigation are:

• Kubusi Abstraction 1000 kL/day.

• Existing Boreholes (total) 1000kL/day

• Dam 1 (near Amabele) 375kL/day (winter abstraction)

• Dam 2 (South of Nkululeko) 700kL/day (winter abstraction)

The only lands in proximity to any of these potential sources are the 200ha of arable plots and the 50ha of communal farm land positioned between Nkululeko (Old Ndakana) and Jerseyville which can be fed from the Dam No. 2 and the outputs of the Kubusi abstraction. These two irrigations sources could sustain about 160 ha of canola or 80ha of intensive vegetable gardens in time of winter drought.

It should be noted that water pumped from the Kubusi abstraction point will carry the high cost of pumping from the remote Kubusi abstraction point as well as the cost of water trading with farmers on the Kubusi river.

Cropping in 120ha of arable communal farmland lands lying to the south of the study area (refer 3.5.1.3) will be limited to dryland cropping unless the proposed new dams described in section 2.3.3.2 are built. If both dams are built they will be able to sustain canola on all 120 ha or 70ha of vegetables in time of winter drought.

Household garden however can be irrigated from the existing boreholes located within the villages and also supplemented from recycled waste household potable water supplied from the Kei Road WTW. This would allow for the cultivation of over 600m2 of intensive vegetable garden per household in winter [7].

6.3.1.4 Climatic conditions

6.3.1.4.1 Dryland crops The high summer rainfalls allows for the dryland cropping in the summer months. This could be practiced on the 250ha of arable plots that are owned by individual householders as well as the 300 ha of the previously cultivated tribal farm land. At present only 75 ha of arable plot land is being utilises for the dryland cropping of maize, potatoes and cabbages.

An analysis of the dryland cropping potential from the ARC’s AGIS systems as well as information from the Department of Agriculture’s provincial intercropping biofuels programme revealed the following:

Dry land crop potential from the AGIS system:

• Soyabean: Marginal 30%, 1 to 1.5tons per ha per season

• Sorghum: 7 to 8 or more tons per ha (highest listed yield)

• Maize: 3-5 tons per ha (good)

7 Assuming 50l of recycled potable water per person and that 75% of the 1500 households participate in winter food production.




• Dry Beans: 1.5 to 2 tons (better than average)

Canola potential as a dry land winter crop was not recommended for dryland cropping at Ndakana, according to the data provided by the Department of Agriculture for their intercropping biofuels programme, which is likely to be because of the low winter rainfall of < 200mm.

Figure 30: Map showing areas suitable for Canola (purple) bordering the study area (Source DoA)

6.3.1.4.2 Household gardens During the winter it is recommended that frost hardy crops are cultivated. These include: beetroot, broad bean, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, horseradish, kohlrabi, parsnip, radish, spinach, swiss chard, turnip, asparagus, garlic, radish, broad bean horseradish rhubarb, mustard, cabbage, parsley, chive & peas.

Further protection of household gardens can be achieved though the use of low cost hoop tunnels and it is recommended that these are further investigated in the feasibility study.

As outlined in 6.3.1.3 winter cropping in the household food gardens will be constrained to 600m2 unless additional sources or irrigation are sourced. The size of winter gardens could be extended with the use of onsite rain water harvesting and storage.

6.3.1.4.3 Irrigated crops Proposed irrigated crops include herbs, fruit and nuts and could also include bamboo. Based on the initial assessments most of the selected crops will do well in the local climate, although citrus may suffer from crop damage due to frost damage in winter.

Vegetables production could suffer frost damage but this can be mitigated through the cultivation of frost hardy crops and the use of low cost hoop tunnels.

The altitude at Ndakana was considered to low for hazelnut production although trials could be done with special varieties to assess viability at a later stage.

Although commercial citrus production was considered too risky given the possibilities of frost, it may be possible to grow citrus commercially on higher grounds this could be trialled and evaluated at a later stage.




6.3.1.5 Markets and their influence on enterprise selection and profitability One of the key opportunities of the zerowaste agroecological approach is to position itself to access the organic. In 2007, approximately 1.2 m organic farms cultivated 32.2 m ha organically managed land worldwide. The global market volume for organic food & drink sales that year is estimated at 46 billion US$. The market has tripled in value over eight years. In 2009 there was only a limited slowing down of growth due to the global recession.

The nature of the proposed agricultural projects also allows for access to the fair trade market which was worth 2.9 billion Euro in 2008, approx. 10 times smaller than for organic products. However, growth of this market segment has been faster than in organics. Only a limited number of products are currently available as Fair Trade, whereas nearly every food product nowadays has an organic version. About 30-40 % of all Fair Trade products are also certified organic. The Fair Trade organic market is a subset of the organic market. i.e. the Fair Trade certification is usually added to an existing organic product. The difference between organic and fair trade is the guaranteed minimum price guaranteed to the producers by the Fair Trade organisations.

Figure 31: A shopping basket with fair trade organic products (Source: Transfair Germany)

Not all products produced by the cluster will be for the organic/fair trade market, for example fresh and dried produce sold to local niche markets, schools, consumer cooperatives etc and the sale of other commodities and products such as electricity to Eskom and Gold Standard Carbon Credits to the international carbon market. Markets for the proposed cluster activities products are considered in more detail in section 7 below.

6.3.1.6 Skills level and production preferences of the producers Most (60%) of the households in the area farm small household garden with intercropping of beans maize and pumpkins. Other popular crops include potatoes and cabbages. An even larger portion of the households(90%) have livestock other than just chickens. Fewer households have arable plots of between 0.5 to 1ha which are typically used for the cultivation of maize.

There is little local knowledge or experience in the production of the ‘specialist’ crops proposed, namely: Bamboo, Berries, Citrus, Hazelnut, Herbs, Kiwi, Pomegranate & Stone fruit. The production of kiwi fruits, in particular, requires a high degree of technical capacity to manage the pruning and hand pollinations process. The implementation of these specialist crops will require the commitment of a suitable technical partner for project management and knowledge transfer.

6.3.1.7 Counter-seasonality to berry farming The berry harvest season is from December to March and at peak production will require about 5000 seasonal jobs. A key directive of this study is to focus on the creation of counter-




seasonal jobs. The harvest times for stone fruit coincides with the berry picking season and so will not meet this counter seasonality requirement.

Pomegranates have a later season and although there is some overlap with the berry season as these start in March. Even though there is an overlap with the end of the berry harvesting season, pomegranate harvesting only requires 1 person per ha and so there is little impact for this activity.

Citrus and Kiwi have good counter seasonal harvest time Kiwi production is considered too technical and Citrus will be subject to frost damage.

Bamboo usually has little seasonal aspects but it can be harvested in the counter season and stockpiled for processing. Similarly bamboo processing can also be performed in the counter season. The viability of counter seasonal bamboo production will need to be evaluated in more depth in the feasibility study.

Herbs, especially those grown for essential oils typically require three seasons of picking of which it may be possible to offset the mid summer picking season so as not to clash with the berry season.

Sweet sorghum and grain sorghum have been highlighted for their good counter seasonal aspects although growth trials will determine if the long or short season varieties will work best for the area and if the sorghum needs to be cut back in midsummer (December/January). Short season sorghum can varieties can be planted as late as January for harvesting at the end of April.

6.4 Considerations for Coping with Climate change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) in its fourth Assessment report (IPCC 2007) warns that warming by 2100 will be worse than previously expected, with a probable temperature rise of 1.8°C to 4°C and a possible rise of up to 6.4°C. As temperatures continue to rise, the impacts on agriculture will be significant (Doering et al. 2002). The effects of climate change on agriculture in Southern Africa, in particular, are expected to be severe and is anticipated that 2020, yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50 percent. Agricultural production, including access to food is projected to be severely compromised. This would further adversely affect food security and exacerbate malnutrition.

It is important that in the process of cluster development and the selection of the proposed crops and activities, consideration is given to include the following broad strategies for coping with climate change:

6.4.1 Rainwater harvesting With Climate change, rainfall in the area is expected to become less frequent and more unpredictable. Apart form the two main dams mentioned in section 2.3.2 there appears to be little rainwater harvesting practices in the area.

• Effective rainwater harvesting measures that could be adopted include:

• the construction of smalls near point of use

• the construction of as well as large dams (as proposed in section 2.3.3.2)

• the practice of infield rainwater harvest techniques

• households rainwater capture and harvesting




6.4.2 Multiple cropping systems By employing multiple cropping (polyculture systems), traditional farmers can adapt to local conditions, and sustainably manage harsh environments and meet their subsistence needs without depending on mechanization, chemical fertilizers, pesticides or other technologies of modern agricultural science.

Polycultures exhibit greater yield stability and less productivity declines during a drought than in the case of monocultures. For example studies on the effect of drought on enhanced yields with polycultures by manipulating water stress on intercrops of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and peanut (Arachis spp.), millet (Panicum spp.). All the intercrops overyielded consistently at five levels of moisture availability, ranging from 297 to 584 mm of water applied over the cropping season. Quite interestingly, the rate of overyielding actually increased with water stress, such that the relative differences in productivity between monocultures and polycultures became more accentuated as stress increased. These types of ecological studies suggest that more diverse plant communities are more resistant to disturbance and more resilient to environmental perturbations (Altieri & Koohalfkan 2008).

Polycultures also allow for the integration of nitrogen fixing plants which are a vitally important in eliminating dependence on unnecessary fossil based nitrogen fertilizer supplies as it is possible to produce all of the nitrogen requirements form the intercropping or relay cropping of nitrogen fixing plants without affecting food production volumes (FAO 2009)

Table 16: Sources of Nitrogen for Agriculture (FAO 2009)

6.4.3 Soil organic matter enhancement Soils hold about 75 percent of terrestrial carbon and show a greater potential to sequester much more carbon than trees. But in addition to carbon sequestration and affecting both the chemical and physical properties of the soil such as soil structure, diversity and activity of soil organisms, and nutrient availability, organic matter enhances the water holding capacity of the soil via several mechanisms:

• Plant residues that cover the soil surface protect the soil from sealing and crusting by raindrop impact, thereby enhancing rainwater infiltration and reducing runoff. Increased organic matter also contributes indirectly to soil porosity (via increased soil faunal activity). The consequence of increased water infiltration combined with a higher organic matter content is increased soil storage of water.

• The addition of organic matter to the soil usually increases the water holding capacity of the soil. This is because the addition of organic matter increases the number of micropores and macropores in the soil either by “gluing” soil particles together or by




creating favourable living conditions for soil organisms. Certain types of soil organic matter can hold up to 20 times their weight in water (Wilken 1987; Denevan 1995).

• Practices such as crop rotation, composting, green manures and cover crops increase biomass production and therefore build active organic matter. Soil management systems that lead to maintenance of soil organic matter levels are essential to the sustained productivity of agricultural systems in areas frequently affected by droughts.

6.4.4 Locally based research extension and farmer-to-farmer networks There is large body of knowledge available globally on agroecological practices that prevent climate change. Much of this knowledge is held by small farmers who are the custodians of complex, diverse and locally adapted agricultural systems, managed with time-tested, ingenious combinations of techniques and practices that lead to community food security and the conservation of natural resources and biodiversity.

There is a need to rapidly mobilize this knowledge so that it can be applied and adapted by rural communities for climate change resilience. For this horizontal transfer to occur quickly, emphasis must be given to involving farmers directly in the extension of innovations through well-organized farmer-to-farmer networks. The focus should be on strengthening local research and problem solving capacities. Organizing local people around projects to enhance agricultural resiliency to climate change must make effective use of traditional skills and knowledge, as this provides a launching pad for additional learning and organizing, thus improving prospects for community empowerment and self reliant development in the face of climatic variability (Altieri & Koohafkan 2009) .

It is recommended that a local agroecological extension programme is developed which will included local research, including the use and enhancement of indigenous skills and knowledge whilst promoting linkages with research institutions and facilitating access to the national international farmer to farmer networks.

The proposed local extension and research programme should focus on developing farmer/householder capacity on the following key climate adaptation strategies as recommended by Altieri and Koohafkan:

• the use of locally adapted varieties/species exhibiting more appropriate thermal time and vernalization requirements and/or with increased resistance to heat shock and drought;

• enhancing organic content of soils through compost, green manures, cover crops, etc., thus increasing water holding capacity;

• wider use of local knowledge and practical means to “harvest” water and conserve soil moisture (e.g., crop residue retention and mulching), and more effective use of irrigation water;

• managing water to prevent water logging, erosion, and nutrient leaching where rainfall increases;

• use of crop diversification strategies (intercropping, agroforestry, crop-sequencing, etc.) and integration with other farming activities such as livestock raising;

• preventing pest, disease, and weed infestations via management practices that enhance biological and other natural regulation mechanisms (antagonisms, allelopathy, etc.), and development and use of varieties and species resistant to pests and diseases; and

• using climate forecasting to reduce production risk.




6.5 Short Listed Activities

6.5.1 Crops Based on the above assessments the following agricultural crops are recommended for the cluster:

• Existing crops already cultivated in the area (eg. cabbage, potatoes, maize & beans)

• Dry land cropping of organic maize, grain sorghum, sweet-sorghum, soya and possibly canola.

• Specialist irrigated crops such as herbs, pomegranates and bamboo.

Although the soya was assessed (by the AGIS) to provide marginal yields, it is recommended that arable plot holders set aside a portion of their lands the production of soya for biodiesel so as to enable the cluster to become carbon neutral with respect to its vehicle fuel usage. Soya is a nitrogen fixing plant and will be useful in crop rotation. Canola can also be cultivated as a winter crop to supplement oil production.

It is recommended that dryland cropping activities include the practice of infield rainwater harvesting, polycropping and the enhancement of organic matter in the soil (as outlined in section 6.4 above) These practices not only provide for climate change resilience but also assist in reducing inputs such as fertilizer as well as reducing pests and diseases.

Householders could benefit from the expansion of existing crops known to do well in the area such as maize, beans, cabbage and potatoes to include frost hardy crops for production in colder months, including: beetroot, broad bean, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, horseradish, kohlrabi, parsnip, radish, spinach, swiss chard, turnip, asparagus, garlic, radish, broad bean, horseradish, rhubarb, mustard, cabbage, parsley, chives & peas.

Householders could also benefit from the adoption of a number of other activities including cultivation mushrooms, fruit trees, composting and vermin-composting, animal husbandry, beekeeping, biogas digesters and even aquaculture. These activities could be integrated into their food production system using permaculture principles associates with biodiverse home garden design. The interrelationship of the diverse household activities and the transition from subsistence to commercial household garden production are explored fully in the householder enterprise cluster component in section 7.1 of this report.

6.5.2 Other activities & enterprises Many of the activities and enterprise identified for consideration are best grouped into cluster components as they have strong interrelationships that can not easily be valued in a simple ranking exercise such as conducted in section 6.1. To achieve the goal of zero waste involves a complex set of interdependent system that mimics the diversity of nature, which is the ultimate example of zero waste in action.

The enterprises proposed for incorporation into the overall cluster include: agroecological extension services, biomass CHP energy; an organic piggery; a processing & distribution cooperative; dry vegetables & soup production; a brewery, meadery, winemaking, ethanol production hub; bamboo product manufacturing; a local consumer cooperative; information and communication technology services; timber wattle harvesting; berry picking, visitors centre; biodiesel production and aquaculture.

In order to properly assess the viability of one activity in the cluster it is important to understand its relationship to other activities and enterprises in the cluster. For example the viability of the proposed brewing, distillation, dehydration plants are compromised without the surplus heat provided from the combined heat and power station.

These proposed activities and enterprises are arranged into logical cluster components in Section 7 and an overall view of the cluster with all of its interrelationships and associated resource flows is presented Section 8 of this report.




7. Cluster Components The cluster is made up of components which are essentially enterprises engaged in one more activities. A key aspect of the cluster is the zero-waste agro-ecological relationship between the different enterprises and activities which are linked together through flows of resources in the form of products, byproducts, nutrients, energy, knowledge and information. These interrelationships can occur between activities within each cluster components and are outlined below. There are also interrelationships and resource flows between cluster components and it may be useful for the reader to refer to the cluster structure and maps in Section 8 to better understand these individual cluster components in relationship to each other.

7.1 Householder Enterprises Cluster Component

HOUSEHOLDERS

Household GardensIncorporating:

Rainwater harvesting,

onsite composing, mushrooms and vermi-compost

KraalsHousehold

Biogas Digesters

Orchards

Freerange Chickens & Eggs

Algae / Aquaculture

Aquaponics /Hydroponics

Livestock(Cattle

Sheep & Goats)

Homestead

Bees

Householders are at the core of the agroecological cluster. In Ndakana there are an estimated 1500 households within the Ndakana community who live in fenced betterments plots 0.25 ha in size. At least 60% of households are actively engaged in agriculture and cultivate food in small household gardens sized between 500 to 1600m2. Furthermore, about 90% of households have animals other than chickens, including cattle, sheep or goats which are kraaled overnight and sent to communal grazing during the day.

The proposed householder enterprises cluster component contains the following activities:

7.1.1 Household Gardens Many households in the study area demonstrate their skill and motivation to produce their own vegetables in the form of maize, beans, pumpkins, cabbage and potatoes. With proper support in the form of agro-ecological extension and equitable produce distribution services, a typical householder with a minimum food garden of 500m2 can produce enough food for his/her family and earn an income of R3000 per month from the sale of surplus produce (Abalimi Bezekhaya 2009).




An investigation of successful community based micro-gardening activities that were coordinated by Abalimi Bezekhaya an NGO based in Cape Town indicates that it is possible for household gardeners to move from a survival and subsistence gardening to commercial gardening though a process described as the sustainable development continuum.

Figure 32: The sustainable continuum for organic micro projects (Source Abalimi Bezekhaya)

It is estimates that there are about 90 ha of productive household food gardens in Ndakana. It is projected that Ndakana could produce up to 180ha of household gardens (assuming a maximum utilisation of 75% of total available space for household gardens), which could produce over 27 000 tons of vegetables per year.

Figure 33: Typical household food garden intercropped with maize, beans and pumpkins

There are a number of advantages for developing these household based enterprise activities, namely:




• 60% of householders are already practicing agriculture and have the necessary motivation, skills, human capital and indigenous knowledge systems required for success,

• 90% of householders have abundant supply of biofertilizer from the practice of animal husbandry including the kraaling of cattle at night,

• organic farming typically requires 14 people per hectare so a 500 to 1600m2 to garden can be optimally managed by one householder,

• the gardens are already fenced and secure,

• relatively little capital investment is required,

• successful gardeners usually decide to expand their gardens, which will encourage renewed agricultural activity on the unutilised arable plots surrounding the villages,

• improved food security and sovereignty for the household and the community.

Key lesson learnt from Abalimi Bezekhaya’s 28 years of community based micro organic food garden development are as follows:

• a permanent and effective extension service is imperative,

• an ongoing moderate subsidy or structural support is required in the form of, cheap loans and re-financing - depending on development stage,

• subsidised assistance should be geared to the development stage of the farmer (it is less sophisticated at survival and subsistence stages, and more and more sophisticated as the farmer/s move along into livelihood and commercial levels),

• a nursery and seed store is required to provide seedlings support and improved genetic development,

• the business model should be based on a social-profit business which recycles cash profit back to farmer development and support, and not to passive limited equity shareholders.

The capital costs of establishing a 0.16 ha garden, including soil conditioning, irrigation and group organic certification is minimal considering that the household plots are already fenced and that most householders have a good supply of organic biofertilizer in the form of animal manure from their kraals.

Winter garden production could be affected by frost damage and so it is advisable frost hardy crops are cultivated and that low cost hoop tunnels for winter gardens are investigated during the feasibility study.

Poor rainfall in winter will restrict the cropping to 600m2 of garden space per household using existing borehole and waste potable water supplies [7]. The efficient use of the existing borehole resources including the provision of piped water to each garden is likely to require a substantial investment estimated to be in the order of R20million in total or about R15000 per participating household. This feasibility of this option should be investigated in the feasibility study along with the use of onsite rainwater harvesting systems.

7.1.2 Orchards It is possible for householders to set aside a portion of their plots for orchards that will include the high value crops identified in the preliminary assessment (refer 6.5.1). The agro-ecological extension services to the household gardens would extend to orchard management.




The benefit of this approach are:

• better pest control as orchards are not in monoculture stands,

• improved valuable eco-services such as the attraction of beneficial insects to the garden,

• less water usage through mulching and groundwater seepage if the trees are at the bottom of the garden

• no need for expensive irrigation systems (see above)

• minimal theft and losses

• increased family nutrition, food sovereignty and security

A minimal capital expenditure of R2000 is required to establish a 20 tree household orchard.

7.1.3 Free range chickens & eggs It is also traditional for householders to keep chickens and most already do. Improved indigenous genetics and management will make it possible for the householder to produce valuable free range eggs for market and meat for the pot. Chickens also provide valuable integrated pest management services such as de-ticking of cattle and goats, eating of maggots in the manure as well as pest management in gardens and orchards.

Homestead chicken farming is not capital intensive and chicken coups for free range egg laying chickens can be built for about R2000 to R5000 depending on the scale.

7.1.4 Beekeeping Beekeeping refers to the practice of maintaining beehives in man made boxes. A beekeeper ensures that bees are healthier than if they were on their own in the wild, and in this way, the person keeps the bees, becoming a beekeeper.

The long term agricultural growth and stability of the area will be dependant on the development of a healthy population of managed beehives. These beehives will provide services to agriculture in the form of pollination, and will provide employment opportunities to the community. In addition, beehives are an excellent source of fertilizer for small field crops and vegetables as bees go to the toilet within 30 meters of their hive providing in the region of 20-30kg of nitrogen/phosphorous fertilizer per year per hive.

Figure 34: Beekeepers (Source Makana Meadery)

The study area has in the region of 300 hectares of gum forests, of various gums which flower in winter, spring and summer. These stands of invasive trees will make it easy to establish a beekeeping project in the area as bees thrive in gum plantations. The presence of other agricultural activities, such as blueberry cultivation will assist the bees to diversify and produce more honey from more flower sources.




Beekeeping produces a number of products in addition to the fact that the bees pollinate crops and fertilize the soil near the hives. Bees produce honey, wax, pollen and propolis, all of which are valuable crops which can be harvested and sold with the correct tools and training.

It is recommended that householders who practice wild honey harvesting are identified to be the initial beekeepers in the area. The training and mentoring of 20 beekeepers will cost about R140,000 and to supply each with 20 beehives and equipment will cost about R300,000. Raw honey products will most likely be collected by enterprising specialist beekeepers who extract the honey and transport the honey or wax to the marketing and distribution cooperative or to the meadery for sale or further processing. A portion of the wax will be returned to the beekeepers for further honey cultivation. The honey extraction facility which costs an estimated R165,000 is likely to form part of the proposed meadery and brewing cluster (refer 7.6) or the proposed agri-processing and distribution cluster (refer 7.2).

Householders who choose to keep bees will benefit:

• from the sale of honey, wax, pollen and propolis products to the marketing and brewing cluster

• the fertilisation of their gardens with about 25kg/year of bee manure per hive

• the lease of hives to Amathole Berry farms and the berry outgrowers during the berry flowering season, who will require up over 2000 hives at peak production.

Honey markets: National honey market undersupplied. Markets such as Woolworths require clean processing facility, such as facility detailed above. There is no shortage of demand for honey.

7.1.5 Livestock (pasture fed) About 90% of householders own livestock in the form of cattle, sheep or goats which they are pasture fed. The reintroduction of the traditional practice of communal herding as a means to improved pasture management through rotational grazing in a manner compatible with cultural practices could lead to improved pastures and increased stocking carrying capacity (Savoury A, 1999) increased incomes from livestock sales. Pasture fed beef can be sold at a premium on the local and international markets and it is recommended that this premium is increased through the conversion to organic which will most likely require the repatriation of the oxpeckers into the area. The cost of implementing traditional herding system will require the use of two trained herdspersons per village at R40,000 per annum. The cost of introducing oxpeckers into the area is about R150,000 with an operational cost of R60,000/year over three years.

Figure 35: The tick eating red-billed oxpecker

Under the organic standards (DAFF 2008) with kraaling of animals at night it is possible to keep up to 7200 cattle on the 1440ha of communal pasture land [8]. A veld condition

8 In order to achieve less than 170kg of N/ha /year, assuming 50% capture of manure in kraals




assessment should be conducted by pasture specialists at Dohne to assess the overall carrying capacity of the grazing lands. Consideration should be given the proposed production of sweet sorghum silage byproduct (up to 100 tons per ha cultivated) (refer 7.4.3) which will greatly reduce the constraints on winter grazing.

It is also recommended that the large tracts of jungle wattle (about 150 ha in the tribal area and about 140ha in state land should be cleared to make space for additional grazing.

7.1.6 Kraal manure and biogas digester About 90% of households have cattle or sheep which are traditionally brought inform communal grazing lands to be kept in a kraal at night. This practice allows for the easy harvesting of kraal manure for the production of valuable biogas energy and biofertilizer through the use of anaerobic biogas digesters. There are already over 15 million operational biogas digesters on the planet, most of which are used by rural householders with 2 or more livestock units.

Figure 36: Installation of a low cost tube digester

Figure 37: Construction of a below ground digester under construction and a biogas fueled cooker




Biogas produced by households as a clean fuel for:

• heating and cooking,

• lighting using filament gas lights,

• electricity production using modified petrol or diesel engines or gas turbines,

• vehicle fuel after it has been cleaned (scrubbed).

The nutrient rich effluent from the biogas digester can be used as an excellent biofertilizer, as up to 60% of the unusable nitrogen in the manures is made available during the digestion process. Furthermore, as mentioned in section 5.1.4, the use of digestion of fresh manure reduces the 90% loss of available nitrogen to atmosphere that is associated with ordinary kraal manure handling practices.

In addition to the energy beneficiation & nutrient beneficiation, the use of biogas systems has a number of social and environmental benefits, namely:

• biogas digesters can provide ecological sanitation,

• digestion of manures and biowaste reduces pests like flies, rats and cockroaches,

• biogas for onsite cooking and heating eliminates the need to collect firewood freeing up more time for women who spend up to three hours a day collecting firewood,

• promoting reforestation.

The cost of installing a low cost tube digester is about R7000 and a below ground digester is about R38,000. According to the National Rural Domestic Biogas Feasibility Study (Austin & Blignaut, 2007) over 310,000 households (9.5%of SA’s rural households) are technically able to participate in a rural biogas programme (these are the households that have 4 cows or more, do not have access to grid electricity, and have access to water). The study indicates that the feasibility of implementing a below ground rural household biogas rollout in the Eastern Cape is as high as 26% financial IRR and an economic IRR of 77%.

7.1.7 Algae and aquaponics It is proposed that intensive algal production and aquaculture are introduced as a phase 2 component to capitalise on the nutrient rich effluent from the biogas digester system. The algal system will produce high protein edible algae for animal fodder or as a slow release foliar biofertilizer and algal biomass can be easily dried and stored indefinitely for sale or later use as a biofertilizer of animal fodder.

Figure 38: Algal and aquaculture as a proposed phase 2 activity




The nutrient and oxygen rich algae pond effluent is an ideal growth medium for zooplankton which in turn is an excellent food source for aquaculture production of tilapia and freshwater crayfish (cherax). Cherax can be grown under licence in the Eastern Cape and local Kei Road farmer Vaughn Bursey is running South Africa’s most successful fresh water crayfish production facility. The cost of implementing this system on household scale is estimated to be between R50,000 to 100,000 depending on the scale.

7.1.8 Mushrooms Housholders can convert vegetable garden trimmings and stover (old maize stalks) into profit through the production of oyster mushrooms. The simple process of seeding, steam sterilized stover for the in-bag production of valuable oyster mushrooms has been demonstrated by ZERI as an effective method for rural householders, women in particular, to creating valuable protein source for the family. Oyster mushrooms can be sold as fresh or dried on local regional international markets.

Figure 39: A biogas fuelled steam sterilizer for oyster mushroom production & the resulting oyster mushrooms

In true zero waste fashion, the waste mycelium can be fed to animals as a protein rich feed sweetener and the resulting decomposed fibre waste is an excellent feedstock for earthworms that will provide valuable vermicompost and nutrient rich worm tea to the garden.

The cost of this activity is negligible as oyster mushrooms can even be produced in thin plastic bread bags.




7.2 Agri-processing Marketing and Distribution Hub

Figure 40: The processing marketing and distribution hub

The main objective of this cluster component is to provide value added service and equitable access to markets for crops and produce originating from the proposed cluster. This cluster component has synergies with the proposed Amabele Berry Handling and Support Facility and it is envisaged that it will be located alongside this facility in order to make use of economies of scale in the supply of similar services such as heat, power and refrigeration. Working in partnership with the Amabele Berry Handling facility will not only help to reduce installation costs but could also reduce overheads such as management & maintenance.

The institutional structure of this entity could be either that of a pure cooperative or a cooperatively owned company as is proposed for the Amabele Berry Handling Facility company. A hybrid institutional arrangement whereby the company is transferred entirely into ownership of the cooperative after a suitable handover period is probably the most suitable arrangement. In any event, the cooperative should be made up of participating growers and remunerated and profit sharing should be based on a pro-rata basis relative to each growers respective supply of produce to the enterprise.

The proposed activities to be performed to this cluster component enterprise are as follows:

7.2.1 Collections and Internal Control Systems This activity will involve coordination of a fresh produce collection service using the proposed IC2U coop’s village telco system to allow householders and growers to provide a realtime status of availability of surplus products from their fields and garden. This information and communication system will simplify logistics and coordination for both the grower leading to reductions in administration and payment costs. The collection service is coupled with an Internal Control System (ICS) which coordinates and manages the compliance of growers to the groups organic certification. This is considered as a best practice for the development of organic businesses and sustainable value chains for smallholders in developing countries (Elzakker & Eyhorn, 2010).




7.2.2 Cleaning, Processing, Packaging, Cold storage These activities will need to flexible in order to accommodate the diversified product streams that are likely to arise. It is likely that there may some institutional synergies that could be explored between the berry processing in order to realise the potential savings such as maintenance and management costs. The cold storage facility could be operated on the head supplied from the proposed biomass to heat and power facility using reverse chiller technology.

At full production this facility is expected to process 30000 ton of vegetable produce (and fruit) from the 150 ha of household growers. It is expected that up to 1/3 of this fresh produce will be sent to the drying facility for dehydration (refer 7.2.3). The cost of this facility including the dehydration is expected to be = R25 million, requiring working capital in the order of R3.3 million [9] and it is expected to employ over 600 people in the peak growing period and about half that in winter.

7.2.3 Drying / dehydration It is proposed that a vegetable drying/dehydrator process is installed on a similar scale to the similar to the unit piloted at the Fort Hare University, i.e. 8 tons per day, as there is a large market for dried organic vegetables in the USA (Schulze, 2010). This drier unit can be powered with surplus heat generated by the proposed biomass to heat and power facility. The drying facility can also be used to process dried fruits and tomatoes adding value to products received by the growers. The cost of this facility are included in 7.2.2 above.

7.2.4 Grain Storage and micro milling operation Grain storage and milling is proposed as a value added process for sorghum and maize products. Maize meal is a staple diet in the area and so the local manufacture and distribution of maize meal will help to reduce the carbon footprint ‘food miles’ of the main staple food eaten by the Ndakana community whilst taking the necessary steps to achieving food security and food sovereignty.

The distribution of maize and sorghum staple products back to the local community will reduce the leakage (wastage) of money from the local economy and generate local economic multipliers (refer 5.1.3). Also, as human power is one of the key energy forms in the cluster it makes sense to provide people with healthy nutritious organically produced maize meal.

Figure 41: A simple dehuller and mill manufactured in South Africa ( Source: Taylor)

9 Based on costs of packing and drying from the ECDC Herb Hub Project (ECDC 2003) with escalation of 8% per annum.




Provision

of inputsProduction

Bulking

Cleaning

GradingTrade Retail

Processing

Packaging

Services (financial, certification, advice etc.)

Business environment

The costs of a micro mill are outlined in the table below:

Figure 42: Costs for commissioning a 2t/h micro milling plant

Item Amount

Plant (2 tons per hour) R 6 000 000

Silos (4 x 200t) R 1 000 000

Laboratory R 150 000

Training R 635 000

Plant set up R 350 000

Operational requirements R 600 000

Working Capital (mostly stocking of grain) R 1 800 000

TOTAL R 10 535 000

It is likely that this milling activity could receive additional revenue streams from the contract milling of grain for brewing activities in the brewing cluster or form the contract milling of grain for the proposed local consumer cooperative.

7.2.5 Abattoir It is proposed that an abattoir is included at a later stage so that the organic pasture fed beef, organic pork, free range chicken, finfish, cherax and water fowl can be properly processed and packaged for the high value organic market. The by-products from this activity will provide valuable nutrients to the system. The berry farm is already evaluating the transportation of abattoir waste from Komgha to meet their nutrient demand.

7.2.6 Marketing and distribution It is proposed that this enterprise seeks to maximise it’s position on the value where possible and its scope will also include distribution to local niche markets in order to maximise returns for its growers and the promotion of local food security in the area.

Figure 43: Maximising the position on value chain through downstream integration




Studies of similar equitable distribution systems such as the ethical cooperative (www.ethical.org.za) and the Abalimi Bezekhaya Harvest of Hope Programme, show that the direct to final customer approach which bypasses middle men and local retailers provides the high quality organic produce at affordable prices (that match Spar’s fresh produce prices) to consumers whilst generating sustainable incomes of up to R3000 per month per 500m2.

The enterprise will also seek to market produce to regional and international organic markets. A brief assessment of the organic market organic indicates that in the last decade, organic agriculture has experienced rapid development and expansion worldwide. Between 2002 and 2005, sale of organic food and drink worldwide increased by 43%, from USD 23 billion to USD 40 billion. Today, over 31 million hectares are currently managed organically, and certified as such, in approximately 120 countries and involves at least 623 174 farms Africa has the smallest area certified organic, only 1.3%, indicating that there are opportunities for expansion of certified organic agriculture in Africa (NEDLAC 2008)

Finally, it is anticipated that the marketing & distribution function will seek to work with local and regional consumer cooperatives, in order to best achieve the goals of equitable local food distribution that are required to achieve food security, climate change adaptation, mitigation, and resilience (IAASTD 2008).

At present there are no consumer cooperatives in operation within the province, however, the DTI is promoting the adoption of consumer cooperatives as they are considered to the most successful form of cooperatives [10] and are widely adopted in Europe and South America. At the time of writing, the Indaloyethu Cooperative was in the process of establishing a consumer cooperative in Mdantsane with the objective of supplying locally produced food to its members. Conversations with the representatives of the cooperative indicate that they will be willing to enter into take off agreements for locally produced maize meal and organic vegetables (Ndidi 2010).

7.3 Arable Plots Holder Enterprises

This cluster component involves the traditional practice of cropping on dryland plots owned by individual householders. The crops listed in the cluster are based on the recommendations of the crop assessment process in section 6.5.1.

10 For example Legacoop the major consumer cooperative in Italy has a turnover of €50Bn per year and a growth rate of 4.5% (DTI 2008)




The conventional approach to dryland agricultural development would be to consolidate these plots into large tracts of mono-cropping, which would be dependent on inputs of hybrid seeds reliant on irrigation and fertilizer. Such an approach would also require the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers, which would not be compatible with a zerowaste agro-ecological agricultural philosophy. In any event, the community has voiced its concern about the reintroduction of this approach to agriculture following the failure of the ‘Massive Food Production Programme’ in the area.

It is recommended therefore that cropping includes best agro-ecological practices such as:

• poly-cropping which includes the co-cropping of grain and nitrogen fixing legumes is practiced as this has been shown to produce yields of 1.5 x conventional dryland cropping (Altieri M, 2002)

• mulching & infield rainwater harvesting for climate change resilience

• integrated pest management such as the push-pull system of maize production which involve co-cropping with nitrogen fixing desmodium to repel (push) pest ant the use of napier grass on the field borders to attract & trap stalkborer (refer Figure 44).

It is also recommend that the possible sources of irrigation are investigated as outlined in 2.3.3.2 so as to ensure higher and more stable yields.

Figure 44: The push-pull practice of integrated pest management using the intercropping maize with desmodium and napier grass on the field border to control stalk borer




SPECIALIST CROPPRODUCER COOP/PTY

Other

Pomegranate

Sweet Sorghum

Herbs Grain/sorghum

Bamboo

7.4 Specialist Producers

These proposed specialist producers are entities tasked to make productive use of the presently unutilised 180ha of arable communal farm land. These entities will require an equitable partnership between the community and the technical experts/service providers tasked to manage the projects.

The crop activities recommended for these enterprises are based on the outcomes of the screening process undertaken in section 0 and are listed as follows:

7.4.1 Herbs The feasibility study prepared for the ECDC indicates that is viable to produce and process both dried and fresh herbs for the South African market (ECDC 2003A). South Africa is a large importer of dried herbs (about 200 million per annum). Herbs are high-valued intensive crops. An enterprise involving the cultivation, drying and production of quality fresh herbs for the local and export markets was identified as having potential in the Ndakana area. An herb enterprise could include the following herbs: oregano, parsley, thyme, basil, rosemary and mint. A similar proposal has previously been proposed for the Mthatha area.

Herb growing conditions and processing should comply with the necessary RSA food production standards and buyer specifications.

Estimated market size

- Domestic – R286 million imported PA

- International – US$10 billion PA

Dried herbs form a large portion of this market and this drying process could be performed in the proposed processing and marketing cluster where the installation of an sight ton per day dehydration plant powered from the surplus heat of the propose combined heat and power cluster has already been proposed as a viable activity for dehydrated organic vegetable production.

It is proposed that fertilizer required for the production of herbs are provided in the form of digestate and nutrient rich effluent from the proposed organic piggery and aquaculture enterprises (refer 7.15).

The following are considered key to the successful establishment of a herb growing and processing enterprise:

• Suitable land

• Timely commissioning of capital infrastructure

• Suitable climatic conditions (no extreme cold conditions)




• Access to continuous electricity

• Access to water (about 80,000 litres per day for an 8 Ha site)

• Market demand (needs to be reconfirmed and updated)

• Market segments and selecting the right species and varieties to grow

• Compliance with national and international regulatory requirements

Business and other risks include:

• Competition (international growers and many small domestic growers, and domestic importers)

• Energy supply interruptions

• Water supply (climate change and water scarcity)

• Foreign exchange rates

• Interest rate

• Price risk

Labour and Skills requirements are assumed to be as follows:

• Manager 1

• Supervisors 4

• Permanent labourers 60

• Seasonal labourers 88

Staff can be readily trained in the required skills

The following financial information assumes the following:

• 10 Ha facility

• 2 x 4 Ha greenhouses

• About 1,650 tonnes of dried herbs PA

• R4.20 per kg fresh herbs

Capital costs

Component Cost Fixed capital - R18,000,000 Working capital - R2,000,000 TOTAL - About R20,000,000 Operational costs

Component Cost per annum Cost of sales (growing costs) - R1,260,000 Salaries and wages - R2,700,000 Production costs (Transport, water, energy, etc)

- R1,000,000

Administration - R800,000




Component Cost per annum Depreciation - R1,000,000 Interest on capital - R2,620,000 TOTAL ANNUAL - R9,380,000 Revenue

Component Income - Sale of dried herbs - R12 million

TOTAL ANNUAL R12,000,000

The potential for extracting essential oils from herbs has been identified as a additional value-add opportunity (ECDC, 2003B) and would fit well within the proposed brewery distillation cluster. Furthermore the surplus heat provided by the proposed heat and power cluster will assist in the viability of this proposed activity. The economic viability of essential oil production will depend on the willingness of the organic market to accept small volumes and the potential of contracting the oils distillation process out to the proposed brewery and distillation enterprise within the cluster.

Apart from the production of edible fresh and dried herbs, there is an opportunity to cultivate rose geranium for essential oil production which is seen as viable enterprise on 50ha stands in the Eastern Cape. The scale of this operation could be reduced from the recommended 50 ha of cultivation if it was cultivate alongside the proposed herb cluster (in order to share the costs of management and technical skills) and if the distillation process was contracted out to the proposed brewery & distillation enterprise.

Salient features for rose geranium oil production is as follows (Horak N 2010) :

• Rose geranium oil sells for R950.00 per kg and the

• Oil yield is reported as 0,1% of biomass distilled, but more relevant is the following.

• Plant density should be 40 000 plants per ha

• Plants are perennial, should require replanting every 4-5 years only

• Rooted cuttings are planted, typical price is 44c per rooted cuttings

• Fertilisation cost is R8 000 per ha per year

• Plants are harvested 3x per year and the expectation is to harvest at least 12 tons per ha per harvest

• The target income for a 50 ha site is R1, 71 million per year

• Labour requirements are 2 workers for every 3 ha to manage all weeding, harvesting and distillation activities, which implies a wage bill of approximately R900 000 for 50 ha

• Other costs include boiler fuel (R500 000 for 50 ha site) although at Ndakana this could be provided in the form of surplus heat generated by the proposed combined heat and power plant.

• General administration, maintenance etc. must amount to less than R300 000 per year to still break even.




7.4.2 Pomegranates Pomegranate production was assessed to be a viable activity in the area. Pomegranates have a relatively low irrigation requirement of 500kL per ha/year and so it is recommended that they could be cultivated on

• the 40 ha of communal farm land near the large existing dam (Dam 2) (after 10 ha is set aside for herb cultivation)

• in household orchards

• The IDC is planning a packing pomegranate packing shed at Fort Beaufort and so initial growing can be contracted to this facility.

•

Figure 45: Fruiting pomegrate (left) and open fruit showing arils (right)

The pomegranate is native to the region of Persia and the Himalayan ranges of India. It has been cultivated in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, North India, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the Mediterranean region for several millennia.

Varieties: Several commercial varieties of the fruit exist although it is recommended that the New Californian American variety called angel red is grown as this has low aril waste and high aril yield and the seeds are softer and edible.

Diseases: The first Indian varieties introduced into South Africa were prone to fungal and viral attacks but the new plant material is certified disease free. There is a threat of fungal diseases during the rainy season, but these can be overcome with both conventional and organic remedies.

Economics: The cost of establishment is around R65000/ha, excluding knowledge transfer and land ownership. One ha can produce 25tons of pomegranates after five years. The farm gate price for pomegranates is currently R17/kg. As growing can take place on a contract basis with the Fort Beaufort packers a small stand of 10ha stand is considered as a viable enterprise.

Market: There is gap in the market for Southern Hemisphere for the redder varieties of about 20000ha, particularly because of its perceived health benefits. The Pomegranate growers association in South Africa indicates that 1200 ha will be planted at the end of 2010.

There are 250000ha planted in the northern hemisphere and South Africa could provide 10% of this export market as South America has taken the lead in servicing this market with significant plantings.




7.4.3 Grain and Sweet Sorghum Grain sorghum was highly recommended for cultivation in Ndakana based on the AGIS models and it is suspected that sweet sorghum will also be a viable crop.

Both are drought hardy crops and so are excellent choices for dryland cropping in the face of climate change. Furthermore the polycropping of sorghum with millet and groundnuts has been shown to increase increased drought resilience.

Grain sorghum is a nutritious traditional Nguni grain that can yield about 9 tons per ha and can be used to produce a variety of sorghum products including sorghum bread, sorghum meal, malted cereal, sorghum rice and traditional sorghum beer.

Table 17: Typical South African sorghum products

It is proposed that grain sorghum products be processed onsite using affordable South African micro dehullers and milling technology as described in section 7.2.4 of the processing marketing and distribution hub.

Drought resistant sweet sorghum varieties can yield as much as 10tons of ethanol per ha is seen as a vital feedstock to the proposed brewery and distillation cluster. The biomass by-product of grain sorghum production can provide as much as 30tons and 100tons per ha silage which will form a valuable winter feed supplement for cattle.

Ethanol form sweet sorghum is made from the juice extracted from the stem of the plants and the decentralised production of ethanol from sweet sorghum is practiced successfully in India. In South Africa the decentralised distillation of ethanol from sweet sorghum & sugar beat using innovative continuous flow fermentation is being successfully piloted by Plantbio[11] in partnership with the Makana Meadery. The costs of the decentralised ethanol plant is provided in section 7.8.3.

11 PlantBio is the National Innovation Centre for Plant Biotechnology, an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology. They have identified high yielding sweet-sorghun varieties suitable for production in South Africa.




7.4.4 Bamboo It is proposed that non invasive, clumping, giant bamboo variety are cultivated for the production of the following products:

• Incense stick manufacturing for export to India (50% of biomass)

• Bamboo-to-electricity (“BTE”) and heat (50% of Biomass)

• Bio-char (a byproducts of the BTE technology) (5% of biomass)

The plantations and the agro-processing businesses can be created in separate SPVs or in a single entity. It is recommend that the Envirovest Bioproducts’ equity model for community based bamboo projects which includes options for funders, a workers trust, land owners and / or the community, and an operating partner is utilised.

Dryland vs Irrigation:

Bamboo can be planted for dry land cultivation although ideally bamboo requires 1200mm of water per year to achieve its peak production rate of 30 t/ha after year three, 70 t/ha after year four and 100 t/ha from year five onwards.

It is anticipated that dryland cropping of bamboo will yield approximately half of these potential yields although this may be higher as bamboo’s main growth period coincides with the summer rainfall pattern.

The minimum stand recommended for the economic production of bamboo is 100ha.

The nearest area of communal land large enough for consolidated bamboo production are the old ULIMOCO lands to the South West of the Study area. These lands do not have irrigation at present but a preliminary assessment indicated that it is possible to build large dams in this area for irrigation (refer 2.3.3.2). Furthermore, the many springs in the area indicate that there is a possibility of installing high yielding boreholes to provide irrigation over the winter periods. The LSDF indicates that there is an existing borehole in this area but we were unable to locate it in the site surveys and from the DWA and Municipality registry of abstraction points. Further enquiries will need to be made to assess if viable production levels can be attained from the winter irrigation limitation from the proposed new sources.

It may also be possible to cultivate bamboo on about 200ha of wattle encroachment located in pockets and stands on both tribal land and state land within the study area. The disadvantage of this is that the plantations will be lower yielding dryland type, disbursed and more difficult to manage. The cultivation of bamboo on previously uncultivated lands will trigger an EIA and require permission from the DWA who have already declared the area an exclusion area for future forestry plantations as this area sits on the major catchment of the




Wriggleswade Dam which provides a vital backup supply of water to the Buffalo City Municipality.

Bamboo’s environmental benefits are well publicised, including the following -

• Water use efficiency

• Water cleansing (nitrogen)

• Soil rehabilitation, mulch and erosion prevention

• Bamboo is one of the leading biomass in terms of carbon sequestration

• Natural forest deforestation avoidance

• High yields per hectare reduces pressure on land use

• Few pests and diseases reduce (if not avoid in totality) the need for pesticides and herbicides

Economics: The plantation establishment costs range for 100ha is about R60,000 per hectare. An additional cost to supply a borehole that will provide 300kL per day is estimated at R60,000. The production and harvesting costs per hectare can range from R30,000 to R45,000 per hectare (heavily dependent on labour costs). The return on investment is usually viewed in combination with the bamboo processing facility (refer 7.5) and is considered to yield a minimum of 20% IRR (considering a 15% – 20% discount rate).

Table 18: Table of risks for bamboo production (Source Envirovest Bioproducts)

Risk Mitigating Strategy / Information

Plant mortality Contingencies will be supplied by Envirovest Bioproducts but the first 12 – 18 months are critical in terms of care and inputs (water and fertiliser).

The use of an incubation nursery is also recommended.

On the whole bamboo is a very hardy plant.

Yield projections Adverse weather conditions and ‘acts of God’ can negatively impact yields but proper upfront climatic and soil analysis, inputs (fertiliser, water, etc) and good management will significantly reduce the risk of not achieving yield projections.

Fire / drought Due to its high water content and the fact that dry culms are the first to be harvested, commercial bamboo plantations are drought and largely fire resistant.

Pests / diseases Bamboo has minimal diseases and parasites. That said, best practice horticultural actions should be taken to monitor and prevent pests and diseases.

Market risks Unless the funding for the project is 100% CSI based, there will be a need to identify selected projects upfront so as to underpin the financial model and provide security for the funders but markets can change, especially seeing as the first production will only take place 3 years after planting. It is strongly believed, though, that due to the dearth of commercial bamboo plantations in SA and the increasing awareness and demand for bamboo based products the end-product opportunities will increase dramatically over the next 3 years.

Management and skills

It is proposed that senior management with a mix of indepth business experience first and horticultural experience second are appointed to




Risk Mitigating Strategy / Information

manage Devco. A capacity building programme should be implemented for local community employees.

Security of feedstock for agro-processing businesses

The primary risk for the downstream agro-processing business will be to ensure that projected feedstock requirements can be supplied by the Ndakana plantations. Hence, the need to treat the plantations commercially, such as ensuring world class governance and operations as well as the use of fertilisers and having available irrigation if need be.

Logistics costs In terms of location, ideally the agro-processing businesses should reside in close proximity to the plantations as well as the market or, in the case of exports, near an appropriate port.

7.5 Bamboo Processing Enterprise

Bamboo cultivated by specialist producers is harvested and processed by this cluster component.

Josh (incense) stick production is proposed as the main product of this cluster. According to Envirovest Bioproducts, the proposed technical partner for bamboo production and processing, they are currently negotiating with a number of Indian incense stick companies for contracts for the export of incense sticks to India. The low capital investment and simple technology relating to incense stick manufacturing facilitates high margins, even with a conservative estimate of waste at 50%.

The waste is fed back into the proposed combined heat and power cluster as feedstock for electricity generation in a process known as BTE or bamboo to electricity. Furthermore, the byproduct of the BTE process is bio-char which is commonly used, amongst other things, in agriculture as an additive for soil management. A conservative estimate for bio-char production is calculated as 10% of the dry bamboo biomass that is input into BTE system. The sales price is roughly the same as the price received for coal per ton and operating costs will be minimal (packaging, logistics, labour).

According to Envirovest Bioproducts, a 100 ton bamboo processing facility can employ up to 250 persons on a sustained basis. The low capital cost of the processing facility and the ability to stockpile bamboo for allows for the opportunity to perform bamboo harvesting and cultivation as a counter-seasonal activity to berry picking. This opportunity will need to be investigated further in the feasibility study.




Table 19: Bamboo ready for processing into incense (josh) sticks (Source Envirovest Bioproducts)

The following financial figures for a combined bamboo production and cultivation plant were provided by Envirovest Bioproducts:

Table 20: Bamboo production and processing financials (source Envirovest Bioproducts)

Payback period Depending on the capex requirements, payback period should be 5 to 7 years

IRR Each agro-processing business has its own IRR vs social and environmental return mix but, as an aggregate, bamboo projects should yield a minimum of 20% IRR (considering a 15% – 20% discount rate).

Total combined revenue projections [12]

Taking into consideration a 60/40 split between BTE and incense stick production the following preliminary revenues have been estimated as part of the Ndakana pre-feasibility model -

Year 1 – R0

Year 2 – R0

Year 3 – R4m

Year 4 – R11m

Year 5 – R16m

Year 6 – R21m and escalating thereafter.

12 These projections relate to bamboo only but, in terms of the BTE facility, production and generation of income can start almost immediately as the clearing of wattles can be used as initial feedstock for the BTE facility before the bamboo reaches maturity.




7.6 The Forest Management Enterprise

The Ndakana area is characterised by a total of 200ha stands of eucalyptus (gum) and the widespread occurrence of the invasive alien tree species, Acacia mernsii (Black wattle). The wattle occurs in irregular patches often referred to as “jungle wattle” plantations. The extent of the jungle wattle biomass resource in the study area is estimated to be in the order of 200ha and at least 700 ha in the surrounding areas. Although the density of wattle varies considerably, at a conservative biomass density of 300 tonnes per hectare, we estimate that the wattle biomass is in the area and its immediate surroundings to be the order of between 210,000 tonnes.

These stands of wattle are both a liability and an asset. Black wattle is listed in the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act, they are notoriously invasive, displace indigenous species and alter the local ecology. They reduce water catchment, encroach on grazing land, increase fire intensity and possibly contribute towards increased erosion. On the other hand, they also have a considerable resource value, with the following uses and potential uses having been identified:

• Building materials and fence posts

• Fuel wood

• Paper pulp production

• Bark for tanning

• Biochar production

• Compost and vermicompost production

• Combined heat and power production

Figure 46: Existing wattle harvesting & collection activities at Ndakana

Some members of the community are harvesting this resource on a contract basis for outside parties who then transport the wattle away for the production of poles, droppers and paper




pulp. The larger specimens of wattle are currently being harvested for stems and branches, which are trucked to Richards Bay for the production of paper pulp. Only the large diameter and straighter stems / branches are suitable and considerable quantities of material are left behind as waste to rot, including the bark, despite the fact that this has commercial value for tanning hide. With equipment and organisation these individuals and others will be able to access a larger portion of the wattle value chain.

The sustainability of harvesting logs for remote pulping is questionable given the distances involved in shipping the material and the anticipated shipping cost increases, which means that this use is not likely to remain viable in the longer term.

Harvesting of wattle makes ecological sense, and is also desirable in that it will free up grazing land, the access to which has been highlighted by the community as being important. It should be noted though, that the community relies on this resource for fuel, building materials and income generation.

Future commercial demand for wattle products will come from the following sources:

o The proposed Berry Handling and Support Facility at Amabele (refer 5.2.10) will require up to 1500tons/year of pine bark and wattle chips, after 2019, inorder to meet the organic nutrient demand from the berry producers.

o The proposed 1MW combined heat and power plant (refer 7.7) will consume up to 8,000 tons per year of wattle

The proper management of the 200ha wattle resources within the study area could yield 2,600 tons of wattle bark and 16,000 tons of wood per annum which indicates that there are enough resources in the study area to satisfy the proposed future demand for wattle chips and byproducts.

7.6.1 Harvesting & Transport Teams It is proposed that a forestry management enterprise is established and equipped appropriately to make maximum use of these resources.

This enterprise should not only include the provision of harvesting equipment and a tractor trailer (for its low operational costs compared to a truck) but should also include for technical forest management experience to ensure sustainable and productive harvesting techniques are practiced. This expertise can be sourced from local timber enterprises such as Rance timbers who may wish to assist this community enterprise as a form of corporate social responsibility.

The proposed enterprises should extend its activities to the management of the local gum reserves which will also assist in the production of honey as the gum stands require thinning for ease of access for bees.

It is recommended that the feasibility study should include an assessment of the competition within the cluster for these wattle resources to ensure that the harvesting teams receive the best value for their product. Currently fresh wattle bark is worth R700 per ton for its tannins and timber is worth R600 per ton. The current practice of contract harvesting to outside parties does not capture any value in the bark and returns only R125 per ton of wattle harvested to the local harvesters.

As a large portion of the wattle harvesting activities will take place on tribal land, it is important that the members of the Amazibula tribe benefits equitably from these activities. This should also be addressed in the feasibility study.




7.6.2 The yard A yard is included for storage, of products and byproducts as it is envisaged that this enterprise could be an excellent counter berry season activity with the main harvesting taking place in the cooler dryer winters and stockpiling of product and byproduct for continuous supply to downstream activities in the summer months.

This proposed enterprise also fits well within the cluster providing:

• byproducts for the Combined Heat and Power enterprise,

• valuable forest clearing and management services for beekeeping,

• wattle byproduct for the compost production at the Amabele Berry Handling and Support Facility.

The proposed yard should be located alongside combined heat and power enterprise chipper is installed and it is recommended that the chipper process referred to in the LSDF forms part of the combined heat and power plant activities.

7.7 Combined Heat and Power Enterprise

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is the combined production of heat and power in a single process. Typically, in conventional electricity generation, over 60% of the input energy is lost to the atmosphere as waste heat, while the remaining 40% is transformed into electricity. CHP systems channel this extra heat to useful purposes so that usable heat and electricity are generated in a single process. CHP usually involves the burning of fossil fuels, but heat and electricity can also be produced from biomass (including biogas and waste).

There are various CHP technologies that can be used for converting biomass to energy, namely:

• Steam turbines: Power generation using steam turbines is a highly developed technology. High pressure steam (20 – 250 bar) is produced in a boiler and drives a turbine which runs a generator producing electricity. This process is known as a ‘Rankine Cycle’. As a result of the high pressures and temperatures, boilers and other equipment must be designed and manufactured to a high specification. This is expensive and CHP units using steam turbines are usually economical only above 2 MW.

• Steam engines: Steam engines work under the same principal as steam turbines, extracting energy from steam as the temperature and pressure is reduced. Steam engines operate on a smaller scale than steam turbines but are only appropriate for sites that require process steam. CHP units using steam engines have a poor power to heat ratio.

• Organic Rankine Cycle: Instead of using steam, an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) uses an alternative substance with more favourable thermal properties. The alternative substance, usually a silicone, drives a turbine using exactly the same principle only at




lower temperatures and pressures. As a result, ORC units (from approximately 200 kW up to 5 MW) are usually more cost-effective than steam turbines.

• Gasification: Gasification systems turn biomass into a gas. This is burned in a modified gas engine to produce electricity, and heat is recovered as part of the engine cooling. In the gasifier, woodchip is turned into a fuel known as synthesis gas or syngas. This is generally done by applying high temperature in a partial oxidation process. The syngas components with calorific value are mainly hydrogen (H2), methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO). The remaining components are carbon-dioxide (CO2), usually nitrogen (N2) and other inert gases.

The use of gasifier technology is recommend as it has cleaner emissions and requires less water that the steam based technologies. The plant will require a high decree of technical skills and it is recommended that a local bursary programme is implemented to ensure that the future skills required to manage operate and maintain this and other technical components are sourced from within the area.

Connecting new CHP generators to the electricity reticulation grid is essential for revenue generation and the REFIT (Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff) price for electricity produced from biomass CHP has been set at R1.18 per kWh since October 2009, giving project developers a guaranteed price for electricity and hugely reducing one of the major uncertainties with biomass CHP. To access the REFIT requires the installation of at least 1MW of electrical output.

Figure 47: A 100KW gasifier and engine

Heat Energy: This means that at full production the plant will generate in excess of 1MW of heat energy which will be able to be utilised by other industries within the cluster, ie. to provide energy for:

• Cold rooms (through the use of reverse chillers)

• Drying / dehydration

• Brewing / malting

• Distillation

• Biodiesel

• Growth tunnels in winter

• Other future activities such as intensive aquaculture, abattoir, water and space heating for accommodation




A preliminary assessment of the proposed cluster energy requirements can be met with a 500kw gasifier plant. It is therefore recommended that two 500kW plants are installed which will enable operation of one plant to sustain energy requirements for the cluster during maintenance.

Byproducts: These include biochar and fly-ash which can be used for soil conditioning. The CO2 and NOx emissions could be sequestrated using algal technology with possible linkages to the local waste water treatment plant.

Feedstock requirements: The proposed 1 MWe CHP facility will require a daily biomass of 22,000 kg (or 22 tonnes) or 8,000 tonnes per annum. Feedstock consisting of harvested alien species such as black wattle, later augmented with other organic material such as bamboo and possible augmentation of feedstock from jungle wattle in a 50 km radius of Ndakana.

Footprint: Biomass CHP plants require a large footprint. Not only is the plant bigger than fossil fuelled CHP but typically at least four days of on-site fuel storage are required. It is recommended that this activity is positioned alongside the proposed yard required for the stockpiling of wood harvested in the forestry cluster (refer 7.6.2).

Figure 48: Storage and handling of chipped wood fuel

Scale and cost: The high capital, maintenance and labour requirement of a biomass CHP plants, particularly the high capital cost of biomass projects, adds significant project risk and can prove to be an obstacle to financing a project and financial viability. This includes carbon credit monitoring and verification costs.

Legislation and approvals: The requirement to understand and seek a large number of consents for a CHP plant, including planning permission and electricity licenses, is considered to be a barrier that inhibits take up.

Carbon credit market: Securing carbon credits can be a complex process with many obstacles and timing issues.

A preliminary gross magnitude estimate of costs and incomes for the proposed plant are given below:




Table 21: Gross order of magnitude costs and incomes for 2 x 500kw gassifier plant

Captial costs

Component Cost Gasifier – 2 x 500kW units = 1,000 kW capacity

- Assume R6,000 per kW unit capacity

- = 1,000 kW x 6,000 = R6,000,000 Chipper / Pelletizer / Storage

- R2,200,000

Transport (Trucks, fuel, etc)

- R1,000,000

CDM upfront costs (e.g. project registration, verification, etc)

- R1,200,000

TOTAL - About R10,400,000 Operational costs

Component Cost per annum Feedstock costs - R1,500,000 Chipping and pelletizing (operators and O&M)

- R600,000

Transport - R800,000 CDM monitoring and verification - R300,000 General O&M - R800,000 TOTAL ANNUAL - R3,730,000 Revenue

Component Income - Heat Reliant on identify buyer of heat (possible

Amatola Berries)

- Electricity 1 MW @ say 50% operation = 4,380,000 kWh per annum @ R1.18 per kWh = R5,168,400 per annum

- Carbon credits 4,380 MWh per annum = about 4,000 tCO2e per annum @ R150 per tCO2e = R600,000 per annum

TOTAL ANNUAL R6,000,000

Funding: There are opportunities to attract low interest funding discretionary development loans as well as donor funds for community based renewable generation (Cambry G 2010).

Furthermore, there are also opportunities to align the project with the Working for Energy Programme which is a planned Government funded extended public works programme which includes the rollout of community based gasification of alien vegetation (Preston G 2009). The Working for Energy programme will be implemented through SANEDI (when it is properly constituted – currently through SANERI), and Derek Batte is the Project Manager.

These funding opportunities should be further explored during the feasibility study.




7.8 Mead, Brewing & Distillation Cluster

This cluster of activities could be one enterprise or a variety of enterprises, enterprise engaged in the process of producing alcohol for consumption medicinal purposes (tinctures) or vehicle fuel. There are synergies in technical capacity between this cluster and the biodiesel enterprise proposed in section 7.9 below and so it is likely that these activities will be grouped together as shown in the cluster map.

7.8.1 Meadery Mead, or fermented honey, is a traditional beverage in rural areas in the Eastern Cape where it is known as iQhilika or Qhiri. Makana Meadery has developed a patented replicable system for the modern production of this beverage up to export standards. A place where mead is made is a Meadery, just like a place where beer is made is a Brewery.

Figure 49: A Makana Meadery micro-meadery in Portland, USA (left) and mead made in South Africa (right)

Using the compact, replicable and efficient technology developed by Makana Meadery, a Meadery can be built inside three shipping containers. This facility can process up to half a ton per month of honey into 2500 bottles of mead and requires a production space of 800 square meters. The Meadery would comprise a honey mixing area, a fermentation area, a bottling area, storage area and a small office. It would have to be licensed and a mead maker




trained. The Meadery requires in the region of 500l per day of water from a clean source, although each unit has its own water cleaning facilities.

The capital costs for a micro-meadery plant are outlined as follows:

Honey Extractor Facility:

• Double Container Unit R 165,000

Meadery:

• Triple containers R 150,000

• Fermentors R 90,000

• Tanks and barrels R 70,000

• Bottling and filtering equipment R 34000

• Licensing R 130,000

• Training R 75,000

• Mentoring R 50,000

• Brand development R 25,000

• Label Printing R 13,000

• Bottle stock purchase R 13,255

• Cork stock purchase R 1,800

• Market development R 450,000

Total: R1,102,055

Skills requirements: 2 unskilled, 1 University of technical University graduate with microbiology, or beverage processing at a third year level to be shared with proposed bioethanol plant (refer 7.8.3).

Markets for Mead: National market moderately difficult to target, but can be done achieved with high budget for marketing and branding of product as a tourist niche product. International market is easier, and Makana Meadery has 5 years experience marketing in the USA.

7.8.2 Brewery The production of grains such as maize and sorghum allows for the establishment of a micro brewery to produce beer for traditional and conventional beers local consumption. The micro brewery has good linkages with other cluster components, for example:

• it will be popular attractor to support the agri/eco tourism cluster (refer 7.15),

• waste from the brewing process can be fed to the proposed organic pig farm that will also be part of the agri-ecotourism centre,

• the brewery will purchase surplus heat for malting and brewing from the Combined heat and power plant (refer 7.7),

• Grain produced alcohol can be distilled in the proposed distillation cluster to produce tinctures which in turn has good linkages with the proposed herb growing cluster (refer 7.4.1).




Figure 50: Examples of packaged traditional sorghum beers (left) and Nigerian ‘conventional’ beers made with sorghum (right).

The production of beer for the local market will reduce the money that would normally have been used to purchase alcohol sourced from outside of the community and is an effective way of plugging a major monetary leak (waste) from the community (refer 5.1.3) and provide increased local economic growth though the local multiplier effect.

7.8.3 Spirits, tinctures and Bio-ethanol distillation This proposed activity will specialise in the distillation of ethanol which can be distilled from an alcohol rich ferment of grains, sugar or fruits. This ethanol can be sold as:

• spirits for human consumption,

• bio-ethanol an additive used to replace the toxic MTBE and ETBE chemicals in petrol,

• bio-ethanol as a fuel for ordinary petrol powered vehicles that are converted to run on 100% ethanol (popular in Brazil),

• as medicinal tincture after it is has been used to extract the essences out of herbs.

Sweet sorghum can be cultivated to produce sugar which can be converted, via fermentation, to alcohol. Drought resistant sweet sorghum varieties can produce up to 10000 litres/ha of fuel grade ethanol.

Makana Bioethanol, based in Grahamstown, is developing ‘field level’ ethanol processing systems to allow for the decentralised production of fuel ethanol. These units are currently being testes and will most likely be available in 2011 under license to NERSA. Similar sized systems have been adopted for ethanol production from sweet sorghum in India.

The NERSA ethanol distillation unit will be able to process in the region of 50 tons per day of input material, giving a yield of 110 to 120 liters of fuel per ton of feedstock. The plant will produce about and the ethanol plant requires in the region of 60 000l per day of water.

Surplus heat from the proposed combined heat and power plant can be used to provide the energy necessary for the distillation process.

Skills requirements: 20 unskilled, 1 Skilled from meadery. 1 technical person (mechanic).

Market: Government sustainable liquid fuel requirements provide a ready national market for bioethanol, although it is envisaged that some ethanol will be sold a the onsite fill station to power duel fuelled (petrol/ethanol) motor vehicles.




7.9 Ndakana Biodiesel Enterprise Biodiesel is a carbon neutral fuel that can be made from seed oils such as soy that can be grown as a dry land crop at Ndakana. The production of 100,000 litres of biodiesel per year will require about 110ha of soya and or canola (rape seed) production and should cover most of the cluster fuel requirements and will help to:

• minimise input costs of ever increasing fossil fuels

• create fuel security of the cluster and the local community

• create a carbon neutral footprint for the cluster

The biodiesel enterprise has excellent linkages with activities from other clusters, for instance:

• The proposed biodiesel activity require a similar skills level to operate and so it is likely that these activities will be grouped together. Biodiesel also requires the use of methanol which is a by-product of the distillation process.

• A by-product of the seed oil extraction process is the production of a high seed cake which can be used to feed pigs and will support the organic pig farm in the proposed agri-toursim cluster

• A by-product of the biodiesel process is the production of glycerol. For every 1 tonne of biodiesel that is manufactured, 100 kg of glycerol are produced. This glycerol can be purified, by performing vacuum distillation (another link to the brewing distillation cluster). Surplus energy from the combined heat and power cluster can be used for this process. The refined glycerol (98%+ purity) can then be utilised directly, or converted into other valuable products, providing further zero waste enterprise opportunities for the cluster.

The cost of a 100,000litre per year plant to process extract the seed oil and produce biodiesel will be roughly R1.5 million and has an estimated seven year return on investment. As the price of crude oil increase the viability of biodiesel production increases accordingly. It is anticipated that the price of crude oil will treble to US$300 per barrel by 2015.

Other oil seed crops that could possibly be grown at Ndakana for biodiesel include canolla, sunflower and peanuts. It is recommended that, should the biodiesel cluster be developed, suitable varieties of these oil crops be trialled to ensure crop rotations and diversity is maintained.




7.10 Tribal Authority

This existing entity is responsible for the management and allocation of communal grazing as well as the traditional allocation of land within the Amazibula tribal area, including the allocation of new housing and arable plots.

The tribal authority is the main custodian of tradition and culture for the community and as such its inputs are vital to the development of the cluster. It is anticipated that the tribal authority will work closely with the proposed agroecological extension programme and with householders through its existing structures to facilitate knowledge transfer and feedback and monitoring systems required for the successful implementation and operation of the cluster, especially with regards to grazing management.

Communal grazing management will be one of the most important activities. Communal grazing was the main concerned raised by many people at the community meeting and it is anticipated that the introduction of the overall cluster development will could result in an increase in the numbers of livestock at Ndakana due three main reasons, namely:

• Householders will not sell a lot of stock as they will have another reliable source of income.

• Householders would want to ensure that they keep as much as livestock as is possible so that if the proposed development projects fail they will have another source of income.

• Householder who did not have stock prior to projects being implemented will have means to buy themselves livestock so that they can also increase their sources of income.

For this reason it is recommended that the management of communal livestock and grazing is formalised to ensure that overgrazing and pasture damage does not occur. It is recommended that these management systems should include the reintroduction of the traditional practice of communal herding is considered as a means to improved pasture management through rotational grazing in a manner compatible with traditional cultural practices as this is an effective method of improving pastures and increased stocking carrying capacity (Savory A, 1999).

Improved pasture management will lead to increased organic mater in the soil which is an effective method of carbon sequestration and can lead to a health revenue of carbon credit (refer 7.16)




7.11 Agroecological Extension Services

This cluster component is viewed as the main driver of agricultural development in the area based on agro-ecological principles described in section 1.2. It will focus primarily on the delivery of extension services to householders so that they can improve the productivity of their household gardens, arable plots, livestock and communal pasture systems and produce quality products for the organic markets.

Successful clusters require close linkages both government and research the institutions and this enterprise will serve as the main interface to these institutions which includes the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Rural Development.

The proximity of the appropriate research institutes will enable good linkages to promote key agro-ecological research initiatives with institutions such as:

• Dohne Agricultural Development Institute,

• Agricultural and Rural Development Research Institute at the University of Fort Hare, in particular linkages with its main themes of research, namely:

• Best Practices in Smallholder Agriculture

• Transforming Rural Livelihoods for Poverty Alleviation

• Empowering Community Organizations for Local Action

• Responding to the Challenges of Climate Change

• Department of Ichthyology And Fisheries Science at Rhodes University

• The Institute of Environmental Biotechnology at Rhodes University

The extension services will also make use of the open access to agro-ecology information systems and services provided by the proposed information and communication users cluster uploading media on best available practices and best available technologies BAP/BAT, which will be freely available to members of the cluster.

It is recommended that a local agroecological extension programme is developed which will included local research, including the use and enhancement of indigenous skills and knowledge whilst promoting linkages with research institutions and facilitating access to the national international farmer to farmer networks.

The financial viability of this enterprise is linked with the success of the proposed agri-processing and marketing enterprise (refer 7.2) and so it is easy to see why extension services are usually financed by the packaging and marketing component of organic development (Elzakker & Eyhorn, 2010). Given the increased scope of this enterprise with respect to its overall cluster linkages it is recommended that this functions as a standalone component




which receives operational funding from the organic processing and marketing enterprise. Additional sources of funding from the training of outside farmers, trainers and the internship programme will help to further sustain this cluster component.

The proposed activities of this enterprise are as follows:

7.11.1 Extension services This enterprise will ensure the success of the main producer components of the agro-ecological cluster by providing valuable agroecological extension services that follow the best practices approach to extension in Africa with at least one locally based extension officer or trained demonstrator to every 25 participating household or arable plot farmer (Mpofu, T. 2010).

Figure 51: The relationship between the farmer and agricultural knowledge and information systems (FAO & WorldBank, 2000)

As outlined in section 6.4.4 the proposed local extension and research programme should focus on developing farmer/householder capacity on the following key climate adaptation strategies:

• the use of locally adapted varieties/species exhibiting more appropriate thermal time and vernalization requirements and/or with increased resistance to heat shock and drought;

• enhancing organic content of soils through compost, green manures, cover crops, etc., thus increasing water holding capacity;

• wider use of local knowledge and practical means to “harvest” water and conserve soil moisture (e.g., crop residue retention and mulching), and effective use of irrigation water;

• managing water to prevent water logging, erosion, and nutrient leaching where rainfall increases;

• use of crop diversification strategies (intercropping, crop-sequencing, etc.) and integration with other farming activities such as livestock raising;

• preventing pest, disease, and weed infestations via management practices that enhance biological and other natural regulation mechanisms (antagonisms, allelopathy, etc.), and development and use of varieties and species resistant to pests and diseases; and




• using climate forecasting to reduce production risk.

It is recommended that agro-ecological o extension officers includes knowledge transfer from best practices in countries with high agro-ecological skill levels such as Switzerland, Cuba, China and certain states of India.

7.11.2 Seed bank development Proponents of successful community based micro-organic gardens such as Abalimi Bezekhaya echo the recommendations of the IAASTD, calling for the development of local genetics and seedbanks to develop appropriate saveable seeds that are optimised for local environmental conditions and to reduce dependence on agricultural inputs. This is seen as a vital applied research component that should be practiced by this cluster component.

A key focus of the seedbank to ensure climate change adaptation is the development of locally adapted varieties exhibiting more appropriate thermal time and vernalization requirements and/or with increased resistance to heat shock and drought;

7.11.3 BAP/BAT Agroecological Demonstration Centre It is proposed that a demonstration centre for best available practice and best available technology in local agro-ecology for the area is established. This centre should house extension officers and can be used as a practical hands on demonstration centre for local farmers and regional farmers. A key component of this activity is the active local applied research into appropriate local agro-ecological systems for food security in the area, working closely with farmers and the local research institutions. It is envisaged that this centre will be used to used to train farmers and trainers to assist in the broader rollout of Agroecological systems both provincially and nationally.

This proposed activity could fit well into the proposed demonstration farm and gardens proposed for the visitors centre (refer 7.15).

7.11.4 Farmer Training and Train the Trainer facilities This activity could include facilities to train farmers and trainers and would ideally be located with the proposed demonstration centre described in 7.11.3 above and will allow for practical hands on training. It is envisaged that a main source of income for this enterprise will be the training of farmers and the train the trainer programmes required to facilitate the provincial and national rollout of agroecological development as prescribed by the IAASTD in order to best achieve food security and climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience.

7.11.5 Internship programme Given the extent of the call for the promotion of agroecological farming for small scale farmers, through the ratification of the IAASTD by 58 countries, it is envisage that there will be a lot of national and international interest in the proposed agroecological cluster. It is likely that this interest could sustain an internship program for applied research into agroecology. This programme would inject generate valuable financial, social and human capital into this overall enterprise component and the cluster at large.




7.12 Information and Communication User Cooperative

Knowledge transfer, information exchange and effective and affordable communication are as vital to the cluster and local enterprise development as water is to agriculture. At present there are little of no services in the area providing access to information and communication to householders, apart from the limited and extremely expensive GSM and GPRS mobile phone networks. It is proposed that this is remedied with the introduction of a user/consumer cooperative that provides low cost ICT services to all members of the cluster:

7.12.1 The village telco This proposed enterprise will provide local access to low cost telecommunication and broadband data through the implementation of a wifi mesh in conjunction using the village telco / mesh potato model that has been successfully trialled by the Shuttleworth foundation. More information on this proposed enterprise can be found in the annexure of this report.

Figure 52: The village telco wifi mesh system.

It is proposed that inline with the clusters focus on cooperative development, the village telco is operated in the form of a user / consumer cooperative. Consumer cooperatives are seen as the most successful cooperative model and are effective at providing equitable distribution of goods and services [10].

7.12.2 Open access to AEKIS The village telco will provide the user with free local telecommunication and broadband access to local online multimedia information and training systems, in particular the online skill development training programmes and AEKIS, the local agroecological knowledge information system which will include basic life-skills and enterprise development training required to sustain the cluster as a whole. Access to knowledge is seen as a vital component to the successful agroecological extension systems as indicated in Figure 51.

7.12.3 Online Cooperative Banking Cooperatives are mandated under the Cooperatives Act of 2005 to cooperate with each other and so it is envisaged that this enterprise will provide online access to the proposed




Cooperative Bank (IMVABA 2010) via the village telco system to valuable banking services at negligible costs. This will greatly enhance the facilitation of payments to individual household growers by the distribution and marketing enterprise thereby reducing administration costs and enhancing the competitiveness of the entire cluster.

7.12.4 Internet media centre The access to broadband services can be enhances through the establishment of a multimedia centre that could:

o serve as a vibrant community internet café/library o serve as a local repository for indigenous knowledge and culture o promote the development of local filmmakers who can upload short films and

documentaries that support the AEKIS initiative (refer 7.12.2) and possible local community radio and television.

o serve as vital component for the incorporation of the youth into the cluster.

7.13 Ndakana Local Economic Development Cooperative

At the time of writing this report, this proposed development cooperative is being planned and it was present in concept by Councillor Peter at the 11th Amabele/Ndakana PSC held on the 21 January 2010. This Entity could be incorportated into the cluster and it is envisaged that it would perform support the following activities listed below.

7.13.1 Lifeskills training This activity would assess skill needs in the community and develop appropriate skill development programmed to help sustain and develop the cluster. It is envisaged that this unit would work closely with the AEKIS system provided by the Information and Communication Cooperative so provide online training to householders who have access to the proposed Village Telco system.

7.13.2 Information and events promotion This unit will provide access to information about various potential enterprise development and the local linkages and networks available to support these enterprises. It envisaged that this unit will host events to bring the communities attention to potential opportunities,




technologies and systems that could be implemented within and within the cluster. It is likely that this unit will work closely with the department of trade and industry and cooperative development department.

7.13.3 Enterprise coaching This activity will utilise best practices of coaching for local economic development such as the new economics local alchemy programme that involves a bottom up approach that allows community members to use their passions and make the necessary local linkages to develop triple bottom line enterprises[13]. This approach was recently adopted with success [14] in a similar community Ndakana where a total of 176 new viable enterprises (fuelled by the passion and interests of individuals) were identified for further development and mentorship using practical tools developed by the nef which enable people to understand and develop their local economy to be more sustainable. The nef’s work has shown that:

• People, especially those who are socially or economically marginalised, often feel powerless to influence their local economy. The tools have thus been developed to be accessible to all groups, and the support is focused on the individuals or groups wishing to start an enterprise, or develop an existing enterprise.

• Communities do not develop their local economies in isolation. In many places, local energy and creativity becomes trapped, and different parts of the economy do not work together to maximise local opportunities. To develop a sustainable local economy, the capability and energy of all sectors need to be harnessed.

• Existing assets (including local knowledge, skills and natural assets) are often overlooked or under- utilized.

To overcome these obstacles requires an approach focused on supporting an understanding of how money and resources are used in an economy, and identifying the opportunities that exist for local enterprise from this. People are then supported to take those enterprise ideas into action, and mobilizing resources locally to be able to do this.

Figure 53: Supporting development of the local economy through coaching (Source: nef)

Promoting and supporting local enterprise should be part of any strategy for economic development as they are more likely to employ local people, spend money locally and so circulate wealth in the community, and by reducing transportation of goods from across communities, are likely to have a smaller environmental footprint. Supporting people to

13 Enterprises that seek to balance the interest of people, planet and profits. 14 The Waterloo community (KZN) in partnership between Tongaat Hulett Developments, BioRegional

South Africa and eThekwini municipality and facilitated by the nef.




develop enterprise ideas which lead to positive local economic, social and environmental outcomes overtime will support the emergence of a more sustainable local economy in an area.

The starting point of the project is the energy for changing the local economy within a community, and the natural resourcefulness, skills and passions of local people. The use of an economic literacy toolkit is recommended to engage the community in the debate about their local economy with a view to identifying enterprise opportunities and passion for action within the community.

Within the community through the economic literacy process four key questions are explored:

• What are the opportunities for enterprise development of both new and existing businesses?

• How could goods and services be delivered differently?

• How can we mobilise resources to do what we want to do?

• What are the local economic, social and environmental outcomes of our decisions?

The proposed economic literacy workshops will lead to action in the form of new enterprises, or the further development of existing enterprises, which are supported by an enterprise coach with additional support from a local network of people and organizations developed by the coach.

7.13.4 Enterprise mentorship This activity will provide specialist business and technology mentorship to develop and sustain the local enterprises that are created though the enterprise coaching activities.

7.14 Local Consumer Cooperative

The establishment of a local consumer cooperative is seen as an effective strategy to stem the non regenerative ‘waste’ monetary flows from the local economy (refer 5.1.3). This proposed entity serves as a the effective local market agent for produce such as grains, vegetables and value added products produced by the cluster, working in partnership with the proposed processing marketing and distribution cooperative (refer 7.2) as the equitable local retailer for the distribution of locally produced goods and services. It is anticipated that this entity will also supply products that can be sourced locally and will use its leverage of its market base to secure discounts for its members. This entity may also link up with other consumer cooperatives to provide even further purchasing leverage. This multi-tiered consumer cooperative model has been successfully demonstrated by Legacoop in Italy with a currently turnover €50Bn per year [10].




7.15 Agri / Eco Tourism Cluster

Tourism is often associated with successful boutique industries such as organic agriculture, and can be a valuable source of income to the community. The Amabele Village within an area identified by the Local Municipality as future Eco-tourism potential due to its eye-catching landscape and environmental elements. The LSDF outlines the potential for Ecotourism in the area, as it is located along the branded “Friendly N6” Tourism Route which includes Cathcart, Amathole Mountain Range, Komgha Forest and the Sandile Route and is in close proximity to the following attractions:

• Thornhill Farm organic blue berry farm

• Wriggleswade Dam,

• Thomas River Conservancy is an established conservancy and eco-tourism product

There is relatively close proximity to other tourism destinations such as Hogsback and East London which makes it easy to attract the passing tourists to these destinations, and it is anticipated that the proposed agro-ecological cluster could be become a destination point for many tourists as well as researchers enthusiasts in agro-ecology.

The proposed visitors centre will provide a cluster of interrelated zero waste activities that provides a working example of zero waste agroecology in action. This includes:

• A ‘pick you own berry’ activity as recommended by the LSDF and based on the Amathole Berry organic berry production system

• A restaurant which serves local and organic food produced by the cluster with most of the food obtained from the onsite food gardens described bellow.

• Food gardens which mimic the complexity and diversity of the household food garden as outlined in section 7.1.1, including chicken and egg production, This working garden will provide the public with the opportunity to see key agro-ecological aspects in and principles in practice such as permaculture integrated pest management, rain water harvesting, mulching, and polycropping.

• A store to buy produce and souvenirs from the cluster, which will provide an outlet for local craft enterprises.

• A composting and vermiculture demonstration using food and other waste from the restaurant and cluster.

• An organic piggery stocked with the African Windsnyer pigs that were brought to the Eastern Cape from East Africa during the Nguni migrations people. Visitors will be able to see these clean happy healthy pigs in their natural organic pasture based free




range environment. The pigs will be fed food and vegetable waste from the restaurant and from the agri-processing and distribution enterprise.

• Biogas digester fed from pig manure. The pigs are trained to go to a specific toilet. The piggery is designed to allow for the easy washing of manure waste to the digester, eliminating smells and flies associated with conventional piggeries.

• Algae ponds, aquaculture, and aquaponics, as described in section 7.1.7, where visitors can see the production of high protein algal feed and fertilizer, finfish and cherax as well as aquaponic food cultivation from the nutrient rich digested effluent produced by the biogas digester.

Figure 54: Clean and content pigs in a biogas heated piggery

• A guided tour of the integrated system provides visitors with an opportunity to grasp the ethos and principles of zerowaste agro-ecology whilst creating additional employment opportunities for local community.

Figure 55: Example of an integrated biogas, algal, aquaculture and aquaponic system

In addition, the broader agri-eco tourism cluster includes:

• a tour guide service for visitors who which to learn more about the local rural community and the full zero waste cluster

• accommodation for paying gap year tourists volunteers, WWOOFs (willing workers on organic farms), as well as for trainees Interns and researchers.




7.16 Agroecological Carbon Enterprise

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change formally recognised in 1992 the significance of climate change and its link to emissions of Green House Gasses (GHG). The reduction in emissions of greenhouse gasses was seen as critical to the sustainability of the global environmental systems on which we rely.

Since 1992, market mechanisms have been developed to bring emission reduction processes into the formal economy. An international mechanism was formalised under the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The protocol sets emission reduction targets for developed countries, relative to 1990 baseline levels. One of the mechanisms for emissions reduction is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). This is an emissions trading system to enable an international market for carbon credits.

The Clean Development Mechanism encourages joint projects between developed and developing countries. Carbon credits can form a vital source of supplementary funding for project activities that sequestrate or offset green house gas emissions. There are two main markets for carbon, these include the UNFCCC and the voluntary markets, including the attractive gold standard market which pays a premium for carbon offset through community based projects.

Accessing the Carbon markets can be a time consuming and highly technical process especially if methodologies need to be developed for carbon offsetting activities (e.g. soil sequestration through grazing management). Carbon trading does not from part of the core business competency of any of the major cluster components and yet carbon revenues could form a vital part of the clusters financial viability. For this reason it is recommended that the cluster enterprises form a cooperative and assign a specialist body to manage all carbon related activities.

A key aspect of access to the formal carbon markets is the concept of additionally which means that projects can only access carbon funding if they can show that they needed the carbon revenue stream in order to be viable. Activities that are implemented without consideration of carbon finance are not likely to be able to retrospectively register as a carbon project. This is why it is critical to include the intention to trade carbon in the project design from the start.

It should also be borne in mind that the proposed agroecological carbon cooperative could incorporate the rollout of other future agroecological projects in the province.




8. Cluster Structure and Linkages

8.1 Cluster components and linkages As outlined in section 7, the cluster can be broken down into the main cluster components:

• Agricultural extension services

• Tribal Authority

• Arable plot holder activities

• Householder (for the enterprise of food gardens and integrated animal husbandry)

• Specialist crop enterprises including irrigated and dry land cropping

• Processing, marketing and distribution enterprise

• Bamboo Processing

• Forest management

• Combined Heat and Power Station

• Meadery, Brewing & Distillation

• Biodiesel

Other related activities include:

• A local Economic Development Cooperative (presently under formation )

• A Carbon Credit Cooperative

• A Local Consumer Cooperative

• An Information & Communication Cooperative

These cluster components will relate to other related zero-waste existing enterprises that are taking place in the area. These include:

• Amathole Berries (Thornhill Farm)

• Berry Outgrowers

• Berry handling support facility including nutrient supply that is proposed to be provided by:

• Rance timber (bark)

• Anca Chickens (feathers)

• Working for water (wattle chips)

To properly evaluate the short listed activities and enterprises it is necessary to view them in the context of their relationships to other activities in the cluster. These relationships are shown in Figure 56 below:




Figure 56: Cluster Component Overview




Successful cluster development requires policy level support as well as the fostering of research and development around the cluster (Rücker & Trah, 2007). For this reason it is recommended that the cluster maintains close linkages with relevant institutions. It is recommended that most of these linkages will occur through the agroecological extension cluster component and the local economic development cooperative as shown in the diagram below.

Figure 57: Proposed Linkages to Institutions

The links shown in blue in the above diagram relate to information flows and services provided to support the cluster. The inclusion of local schools is an important aspect to ensure knowledge transfer and participation of youth in the programme. The strong linkages between the schools nutrition programme and the cluster should be explored. The school feeding scheme could also form an important market produce produced by the cluster.

There is also a need to explore linkages with the many NGO’s locally and internationally that are promoting agroecology, these include Oxfam, WWF, WESSA, DED, Hivos, the Shell Foundation, GTZ and many more (refer 10.3).

The information and communications cluster is seen as a vital component to enterprise development and its links to the Shuttleworth Foundation are explored in section 7.12.1.

Other institutional linkages include the link between the clusters agri/eco-tourism component and the Municipality and the N6 tourism corridor agency as well as the link between the clusters proposed carbon cooperative and the institutions governing the international carbon markets.

Figure 58: Other cluster links to institutions

The detailed cluster map showing cluster component activities with product and information flows is shown in diagram Figure 59 below.




Figure 59: The detailed cluster map showing cluster activities, product and resources flows




At first glance, the clusters complexity may seem daunting, but the complexity of the system through its synergies, interrelationships, product and nutrient flows indicates a level of system health that mimic Nature’s diverse and complex zero-waste cooperative systems.

Unlike the simple high input linear model of conventional agriculture, which has been shown to be unsustainable (IAASTD 2008), the clusters complexity and minimal input approach promotes resilience to disease and climate change through diverse regenerative systems that values local social capital and indigenous knowledge system.

8.2 Complexity, a new lens to understand development differently

The emergence of complex systems theory can be linked to the growing understanding that the

world is a complex place. The acceptance that the world cannot be predicted like simple parts of a

machine led scientists and social scientists alike to become increasingly aware of the ‘hidden

connections’, the unpredictability, complexity and non-linearity of life (Capra, 2002).

Most of the global development practices, are shaped and designed for centralized global implementation (however neatly packaged in new and alternative sounding terminologies such as people-centred, participatory, decentralization models, etc.). The focus on centralization both in terms of design and implementation means very little attention is paid to what is happening locally, even though the problem that needs to be addressed is locally; the design solutions are being formulated approaches being generated and funds being procured for something that has no direct relevance to the local problems.

For development to make an impact there has to be an understanding of the complex interconnectedness of the meta-problems underlying the core problems such as poverty.

From a complex system perspective development has to be mindful of the local eco-systems; able to leverage crisis in a resilient manner; have the inherent ability to be resilient and adaptive to changing nature of inner and outer eco-systems thereby allowing the community to engage with the complexity in a manner that does not compromise the wellbeing.

While Complexity is not about doing away what is being done, it more about adding new dimensions to our current understanding of what can be done; it is about moving away from a narrow constricted space of expecting one out come (economic) to a more expansive outcome filled with many seamless opportunities and multiple options.

A study of local eco-bio-socio-economic region such as the current study on Ndakana zero waste business cluster brings out the hidden connection around the meta problem in the region: poverty and under/unemployment. Identifying profitable industrial business models have not yielded the results nor have these been successful in changing the obvious problem to a more solutions based approach – creating the well being of all involved in the region while making the local eco-system robust and resilient. Resiliency is to do more with self –organising principles within an eco-system that kicks in organically when multiple and diverse factors are in operation. When there is only one core component of a programme that is being focused on all the other possible factors are lying dormant.

The Cluster approach of doing agro-ecology is to leverage all possible optimum potentials not only to regenerate the local regional economy, but also the local eco-system as a whole. Local eco-systems of course includes the community.

The cluster approach as proposed in the Ndakana study reveals multiple seamless options around what began as a feasibility for zero waste business cluster around the berry farming.




A development project around growing berry farming alone – while may look lucrative to the investors given the market price of berries does not really look into the over all socio-ecological and economic imperatives. With four months of seasonal employment secured in the berry farms, there is little scope for the over all well being of the people. Consideration must be given to the scope of up-scaling the community’s capacity to develop themselves other than berry picking as informal sector workers inorder to ensure that the cluster overcomes the poverty and address the complexity of the meta problem.

The Ndakana study has revealed the potential possibilities of revealing the complexity of the meta problems; thus revealing the potential hidden connections between these and how these can be turned into solutions which will in due course inject a new life and prospects for the local community to engage in their own well being, rather than succumb to notions of well being defined for them.

Similarly, revealing the complex nature of the eco-system creates a regenerative plan for optimum utilization of resources, where waste from one activity becomes a feed for resource input for another, in an integrated system more simply than one could have imagined had the complexity not been revealed. The interesting aspect of the cluster approach is over time the need for external inputs diminish, as each unit will be run from the output of another unit. The revenue from the sub-units run purely from the unutilized waste resource such as berry prunings, stover and vegetable waste; wattles and other bio-mass wastage could yield a revenue source in the form of mushrooms before getting composted or as livestock feed. Similarly the cattle and piggery slurry along with all the water waste could yield heat through methane digesters and shallow ponds, yielding further micro-algae rich nutrient cattle feed along with simple fish to clean up the ponds as well as local food source. All the heating required for cooking and sterilization of mushroom spores etc can be generated from the digesters.

The success of a cluster approach lies in the ability to harness teams who are passionate about the over all approach and finds the right niche in the whole picture that they can excel in. The research station therefore is crucial for the cluster approach. Identifying and training as well as changing the mind-set of current agriculture extension workers are the key.

Tapping into the schools to create the next generation complexity thinkers and doers in the field of development is the next step. School children can become apprentice trainees in various units as part of various schools project based requirements.

The resiliency aspect of the cluster approach forces innovation and self-organisation the key to the survival of each unit. As there are ample opportunities the usual destructive competition is replaced with a more healthy approach to doing the best that one can as each one’s input is valued; considered as key resource component for another unit. This evokes pride, dignity in one’s contribution to the entire fabric of the region as each small component is crucially interlinked with the other. Even those who are managing the vermicompost is equally important as those who are managing the berry processing plants.

Notions of self worth and being an integral part of an over all picture injects the spirit of community endeavour and ownership as opposed to the current sit-back and wait for development to deliver itself along with the entitlement mentality that has taken away the role of the self in building the community fabric in the rich and diverse colours in deserves.




Enterprise / Activity Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Household enterprises 1050 h/holds 1050 1050 1050 1050 1050 1050 1050 1050 1050 1050 1050 1050

Extension services 1050 h/holds 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42

Arable plot holders (intensive) 20 ha 280 280 280 280 112 45 45 45 112 45 45 45

Arable plot holders (intercropping) 110 ha 55 55 220 220 28 28 28 28 110 110 55 55

Beekeeping 1200 hives 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60

Pasture based beef production 7000 cattle 140 140 140 140 140 140 140 140 140 140 140 140

Agri processing and marketing 30000 t/annum 593 593 593 593 593 297 297 297 297 593 593 593

Bamboo cultivation (seasonal) 100 ha 100 100 100 100 200 200 200 200 200 100 100 100

Bamboo processing (seasonal) 5000 t/annum 300 500 500 500 500

Pomegranates 25 ha 12 12 35 35 35 12 12 12 12 12 12 12

Essential oils 8 ha 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Herb cultivation (hydroponic) 8 ha 153 65 65 153 153 153 65 65 153 153 153 153

Herb processing 2.5 tons/day 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32

Sweet sorghum 100 ha 30 30 30 150 30 0 0 100 50 80 30 30

Restaurant store & tours 1 unit 15 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 15

Berry picking facility 2 ha 5 5 5 5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5

Organic piggery/aquaculture demo 1 unit 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Forestry management (seasonal) 10950 t/annum 60 60 60 60 60 60 60

Combined heat and power 1 MW 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Micro Meadery 1 unit 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Micro Brewery 1 unit 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Bioethanol Distillation & Tinctures 1 unit 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Biodiesel 1 unit 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1

Total 2590 2494 2683 2892 2869 2650 2562 2663 2851 2509 2404 2355

Quantity

Jobs

9. Employment & Livelihood Creation An assessment of the potential number of jobs and livelihoods that can be created throughout the year from the full implementation key components of the proposed zerowaste agriculture cluster, (not including the Amathole Berries Farm and the proposed Amabele Berry processing and support facility), is shown in the table below.

Table 22: First Order Assessment of Livelihood and Job Creation per Cluster Component

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Livelihoods Jobs

Figure 60: The seasonal nature of livelihood and job creation in the cluster




10. Financing

10.1 Costs This section provides a gross order of magnitude estimation summary of the capital costs required for implementing the entire cluster.

Table 23:Summary of capital costs for enterprise implementation

Description Qty Unit Value Total

Householder Agri-Eco Enterprises Phase 1 21 725 000R

Household Garden 1050 h/holders 5 000R 5 250 000R Household Orchards 1050 h/holders 2 000R 2 100 000R Chicken / Egg Production 1050 h/holders 2 500R 2 625 000R Beekeeping training 60 beekeepers 7 000R 420 000R Bees hives 1200 hives 750R 900 000R Biogas digesters (low costs tube digesters) 1050 h/holders 8 000R 8 400 000R Mushroom Production (training & equip) 300 h/holders 1 000R 300 000R Organic Livestock Oxpecker Programme 1 sum 330 000R 330 000R Organic livestock Prophylactics 7000 cattle 200R 1 400 000R

Householder Agri-Eco Enterprises Phase 2 21 000 000R

Algal system 300 h/holders 20 000R 6 000 000R Aquaponic system 300 h/holders 50 000R 15 000 000R

Arable plot holder Enterprises 1 820 000R

Dry land cropping 130 ha 14 000R 1 820 000R

Agri-Processing, Marketing and Distribution Hub 44 450 000R

Collections and Internal Control Systems 1 unit 350 000R 350 000R Cleaning, Packing, Cold Stores & Dehydration Plant * 30000 tons/year 950R 28 500 000R Abattoir * 30 LSU/day 100 000R 3 000 000R Micro milling (2t/hour & 4 x 200t silos) 1 sum 10 500 000R 10 500 000R Marketing * 1 sum 900 000R 900 000R Distribution * 1 sum 1 200 000R 1 200 000R

Tribal Authority 420 000R

Communal Grazing Management Programme * 1 sum 420 000R 420 000R

Specialist Crop Production 49 508 000R

Herbs & Essential Oils 8 ha 2 500 000R 20 000 000R Pomegranates 41 ha 188 000R 7 708 000R Bamboo (Irrigated) 100 ha 180 000R 18 000 000R Dam for supplementary Bamboo Cultivation * 200 Ml 12 000R 2 400 000R Grain & Sweet Sorghum 100 ha 14 000R 1 400 000R

Bamboo Processing 6 000 000R

Material storage (for counter berry seasonality) 10000 tons/year 500R 5 000 000R Buildings 400Incense (Josh) Sticks * 10000 tons/year 100R 1 000 000R

Forest management 2 250 000R

Harvesting Equipment * 10000 tons/year 13R 125 000R Training 25 workers 5 000R 125 000R Tractor & Trailer 1 unit 1 000 000R 1 000 000R Yard (wood stores) * 1000 tons 500R 500 000R Material handling equipment * 1 unit 500 000R 500 000R

Combined Heat and Power Station 10 400 000R

Chipper, material handling equipment & storage 1000 kW 4 400R 4 400 000R Gasifier and generator 1000 kW 6 000R 6 000 000R




Description Qty Unit Value Total

Agricultural extension services 5 200 000R

Collections and Internal Control Systems 1 sum 600 000R 600 000R Extension Services Training 60 officers 50 000R 3 000 000R Seed Bank and Local Genetic Development 1 sum 500 000R 500 000R BAP/BAT Agri-eco Demonstration Centre N/A part of agric tourism visitors centreTrain the Farmer & Trainer Programme facilities 100 m2 6 000R 600 000R Train the Farmer & Trainer Programme material 1 sum 500 000R 500 000R Internship Programme N/A Accommodation part of Agri/Tourism Cluster

Information & Communication Users Coop 2 770 000R

Formation of Cooperative * 1 unit 300 000R 300 000R Village Telco 1500 h/holders 700R 1 050 000R Open Access to AEKIS * 1 unit 800 000R 800 000R Online Coop Banking * N/A Part of proposed provincial Coop Banking InitiativeInternet Media Centre (linked to training centre) 1 unit 620 000R 620 000R

Local Economic Development Cooperative 2 100 000R

Formation of Cooperative * 1 unit 300 000R 300 000R Life skills Training (materials and coordination) 1 unit 200 000R 200 000R Information and Events Promotion 4 events 150 000R 600 000R Enterprise Coaching 4 coaches 200 000R 800 000R Enterprise Mentorship 4 mentors 200 000R 200 000R

Carbon Credit Cooperative 2 450 000R

Formation of Cooperative * 1 unit 300 000R 300 000R Registration of PIN * 1 unit 150 000R 150 000R Quantification of carbon offsetting and development of new methodology *1 unit 2 000 000R 2 000 000R

Local Consumer Cooperative 1 475 000R

Formation of Cooperative * 1 unit 300 000R 300 000R Vehicle 1 vehicle 250 000R 250 000R Distribution hub/ warehouse 100 m3 4 000R 400 000R Public space (sales) 35 m3 5 000R 175 000R Office space & equipment 50 m3 7 000R 350 000R

TOTAL 13 995 000R

* High level estimatation & cost assumptions will need to be validated in the feasibility study

Meadery, Brewing & Distillation Cluster 4 020 000R

Meadery 1 unit 1 120 000R 1 120 000R Grain Brewery 100000 l/year 20R 2 000 000R Spirit Tincture Bioethanol Manufacture * 1 unit 900 000R 900 000R

Biodiesel 1 950 000R

Biodiesel Processing Plant 100000 l/year 15R 1 500 000R Glycerol Purification Plant * 1 unit 450 000R 450 000R

Agri-Ecotourism Cluster 8 938 000R

Pick your own berries (2ha) 2 ha 600 000R 1 200 000R Restaurant/Store * 1 unit 2 800 000R 2 800 000R Vegi Garden 1 ha 200 000R 200 000R Composting & Vermiculture 5 tons 10 000R 50 000R Organic Piggery 20 sow 27 000R 540 000R Biogas Digester 1 unit 148 000R 148 000R Algal & Aquaponics * 1 unit 200 000R 200 000R Guided tours of demo farm (material) 1 unit 50 000R 50 000R Guided tour of rural area 1 vehicle 250 000R 250 000R Accomodation * 20 rooms 175 000R 3 500 000R

TOTAL 172 481 000R

* High level estimatation & cost assumptions will need to be validated in the feasibility study

Table 24: Capital Costs for Implementation of Enterprise Support Services

Operational & working capital requirements will be presented in the feasibility study.




first break even point

second break even pointR

revenues

costs

investment for up-scalingor diversification

years

profit

loss

10.2 Cash Flow Requirements As outlined in the recommendation in section 11.1 the development of the cluster will occur in phases. The proposed phased approach to organic farming development is a common and well understood by funders of these types projects (Elzakker & Eyhorn 2010) and will have an impact on cash flows in the manner described in the graph (refer Figure 61) below. The actual projected cash flows will be assessed in the feasibility study.

Figure 61: Projected cashflow over time (Source: The Organic Business Guide Developing Sustainable Value Chains with Smallholders, Elzakker & Eyhorn 2010)

10.3 Donor & Development Agency Support A key advantage to the proposed zerowaste agroecological cluster over other developments is its attractiveness to securing support, not only in the form of assistance in kind from the many NGO’s promoting sustainable agriculture, but also from certain donors and development agencies who are focused on supporting the development of agroecological systems, organic value chains as well as renewable energy.

10.3.1 Support for Agroecological Farming and Organic Value Chain Developments A key advantage to the proposed agro-ecological cluster over other cluster types is its attractiveness to securing support, not only in the form of assistance in kind from the many NGO’s promoting sustainable agriculture, but also from certain donors and development agencies who are focused on supporting Organic & agroecological value chains.

Table 25 below provides a list of donors, developing agencies and funders who will be interested in supporting the development of the cluster.




Table 25: List of donors, development agencies and funders supporting agroecolcological devlopment and organic value chain development (Elzakker & Eyhorn, 2010)

Organisation Web link

AECF - Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund www.aecfafrica.org

BTC - Belgian Development Cooperation Agency www.btcctb.org

Danida, Denmark www.danidadevforum.um.dk

DED - German Development Service www.ded.de

GTZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische

Zusammenarbeit, Germany

www.gtz.de

Hivos - Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation,

The Netherlands

www.hivos.nl

ICCO - Interchurch Organisation for Development

Cooperation, The Netherlands

www.icco.nl

ITC - International Trade Centre www.intracen.org

Oxfam www.oxfam.org

Pro Invest (EU) www.proinvest-eu.org

SECO - Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs www.seco.admin.ch

Shell Foundation www.shellfoundation.org

SIDA - Swedish International Development Cooperation

Agency

www.sida.se

10.3.2 Support for Renewable Energy Furthermore, the cluster promotion of renewable energy through the use of the combined heat and power technology to process alien wattle and bamboo waste makes it an attractive to other organisations and development funders who are supporting renewable energy, and in particular decentralised community generated renewable energy. This includes:

• the provision of discretionary low interest (6%) loans from organisations such as the KfW Development Bank through the DBSA (Clark J, 2009);

• the Energy and Environment Partnership Programme with Southern and East Africa (EEP-S&EA), has a budget of €10-million in grant funding to assist with feasibility studies and implementation of up to €200 000 per project. Proposals are currently being sought from companies, research institutions and other public and private sector institutions, seeking financial assistance for renewable energy projects.

• grants and technical support from development agencies such as the Dutch development agency who are focussing on the community based forestry waste to energy projects (Cambrey G, 2010)

• Governments ‘Working for Energy Programme’ which includes the roll out of community based alien vegetation to energy projects throughout the country that will be coordinated by SANEDI (Preston G, 2009).




11. Recommendations

11.1 Phasing of implementation The cluster map essentially serves as a future road map for the development of interrelated enterprises, outlining the relationships and benefits of each enterprise to the other.

Understanding these relationships allows for a phased approach to the implementation of enterprises within the cluster. Certain enterprises are dependent on other enterprises and as such can not be implemented separately, for example the development of the householder and arable plot holder enterprises requires the co-implementation of critical agroecological extension activities.

If the priority is local economic development and regeneration of the broader community then the focus should be the implementation of the mini-cluster which consists primarily of the intensive agroecological development of householder and arable plot holders coupled to vital extension services and the proposed agri-processing distribution and marketing cluster. The development of this mini-cluster should (at a minimum) include stakeholders from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the local agricultural research and institutions such as the Dohne Agricultural Development Institute and ARDRI. This process should also seek to leverage financial and technical support from the many NGO’s and donor agencies who are involved in the promotion and implementation of agro-ecological systems.

The ramp-up of the agroecological development of householder enterprises should occur at a scale that justifies economic viability of the associated agri-processing packaging marketing and distribution cluster. It is recommended that this should be implemented at a minimum scale of 100 households using four trained agroecological extension officers, each dedicated to the support of a least 25 householders in each of the four villages.

The implementation of key cluster components can occur with out the full cluster implementation and example of this is given in

Figure 62 below.

If the priority is support for the proposed Berry Handling and Support facility at Amabele and the generation of counter berry harvest seasonal job opportunities then it is recommended that the forestry and bamboo cluster components are adopted with the focus on winter harvesting and processing activities. The beekeeping should also be promoted using existing wild honey harvesters from the community as the champion for this operation.

The opportunity to attract funding and support for the combined heat and power plant (CHP) enterprise from donor agencies and SANEDI should make the development of this component a priority. The surplus heat from this enterprise makes the linkages to cluster components that require heat such as cold storage, dehydration, meadery, brewery, distillery, biodiesel plant more attractive and financially viable. The surplus heat could also be used in the future for other heat intensive enterprises such as intensive aquaculture & the hydrolysis of waste feathers, and the manufacture PLA organic plastic from plant wastes. It therefore makes sense for the feasibility assessments of the CHP plant to be linked to the feasibility of those heat intensive processes that are identified in the cluster.

In any event, the implementation of the full cluster would natural occur in a phased approach. It is recommended that the feasibility study proceeds for the cluster as a whole using a naturally phased logical organic approach to the cluster development that is coupled to the parallel development of the blueberry producers and their support facility.




Figure 62: A simplified version of the cluster for implementation

11.2 Spatial arrangement of the cluster A proposed layout of activities is outlined below (as an option for discussion between the stakeholders) is presented in Figure 63 below.




Figure 63: Proposed layout of general cluster activities in the area




The proposed layout is presented as an option only and as a useful tool to help visualise the location of activities in relation to each other. Before a final layout is generated, a number of issues will need to be further explored in the feasibility study, these include:

11.2.1 Impacts to communal grazing land As can be seen in the above figure, a number of activities such as the proposed visitors centre and the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant are proposed to take place on existing communal land which has the following implications:

• Under the DLA’s interim procedures (refer 3.3) this land use change will require a community resolution at a minimum and approval by the Minister of Land Affairs if a lease is entered into.

• The communities concerns about the reductions to communal grazing land will need to be addressed through the provision of additional tracts of grazing land. For this reason it is recommended that a large portions of grazing land that have been infested with ‘jungle wattle’ are repatriated. These proposed areas are indicated in

• Figure 63. Ideally this process should form part of a planned grazing management scheme that must be developed with the tribal authority and the community.

The reason for the location of the visitors centre CHP plant on communal land is as follows:

• The recommendation in the LSDF for the ‘pick you own berrys’ site to be located on the West side of the N6.

• The location and attractiveness of the existing dam which could be incorporated into the demonstration farm and which could be used to demonstrate aquaculture and waterfowl.

It is recommended that the feasibility study assess the viability of locating the visitors centre at Amabele.

11.2.2 Bamboo production It is proposed that bamboo is cultivated on the communal lands to the south of the study area. If these area to be irrigated stands of bamboo, this will require the provision of boreholes or new dams (refer 2.3.3.2). The feasibility study should seek to clarify the costs of this and the option to for bamboo to be cultivates as a dry land crop.

The community will have also to decide whether they are willing give up vital tracts of arable land that could be used for food production for the production of bamboo. There is already a shortfall of arable land in the community. To provide for all the tribes food needs will require the use an estimated 533ha of arable land [15]. At present there are only 400 ha of arable land available for cultivation (including food gardens).

One solution to this dilemma is the dry land cropping of Bamboo cropping in areas currently invested with wattle. Bamboo will also assist in the control the regrowth of wattle as it is likely to out compete the wattle for light. The planting of bamboo in these wattle invested areas will require a land use change with associated and a community resolution as well as approval from the Depart of Water Affairs, who may consider bamboo plantations to be a form of forestry.

This issue will need to be addressed in the feasibility study.

15 Assuming one ha of arable land can support 15 people.




11.2.3 Impacts to Amabele The location of the proposed agri-processing marketing and distribution hub (refer 7.2) at Amabele will need to be evaluated in conjunction with the plans for the proposed berry handling and support facility which is also to be located in this area.

The location of the CHP plant at Amabele is recommended because of the logistic and material handling (wattle bark and chipping linkages) with the proposed composting component of the Amabele Berry Handling and Support Facility (refer 5.2.10) as well as the opportunity to supply heat and power to the proposed cold rooms and drying facilities.

The impacts to Amabele will include increased traffic trough the area of 22tons (six tractor trailers loads) of wattle feedstock per day from across the N6. The gasifier will also produce a source of emissions to atmosphere, although this is far less then the burning of conventional fuel in boilers. Household at Amabele will be able to benefit from the heat generated by the facility which could be used for water heating and special heating.

11.3 Sourcing of Funding

11.3.1 Grant funding for feasibility study development It is possible to complete the basic feasibility study, business plan and implementation plan with the present resources available to the project team. It must be noted though that these studies and plans could be expanded to fully explore all of the clusters potential opportunities and institutional linkages if additional funds were made available. There is an opportunity to use the pre-feasibility study and ASPIRE’s existing commitment to the project development in order to leverage grant funding that would complement the completion of a comprehensive feasibility study. This grant funding could be obtained from the following institutions:

• The DBSA will provide a grant of up to 70% for feasibility study development

• The IDC has grants of up to R700,ooo for municipalities to implement value chain assessments and replicable infrastructure/systems development

• The DTI provide 90% grant of up to R150,000 for the development of business plans for each of the cooperative proposed in the cluster.

It is recommended that sourcing of these grant funding is pursued in order to assist with the development of a comprehensive detailed feasibility study and business plan for the cluster.

11.3.2 Funding for implementation It is recommended that this pre-feasibility study is used as a tool to assess the levels of interest and support for this initiative from the relevant government institutions, NGO’s, development agencies, funders and donor agencies (refer 10.3). This proactive approach will also serve to start building relationships with these organisations whose contributions will help to inform the implementation plan.




12. References Abalimi Bezekhaya. 2009. Newsletter No.36 Aril 2008 to September 2009

Alteri, M and Koohalkan, Parviz. 2008. Enduring Farms: Climate Change, Smallholders and Traditional Farming Communities. Third Word Network. 2008

Altieri, M. 2002. Agroecology: the science of natural resource management for poor farmers in marginal environments. Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management. University of California. 2002

Austin & Blignaut. 2007. South African National Rural Domestic Biogas Feasibility Assessment. AGAMA Energy. Prepared for Minister for Development Co-operation. The State of Netherlands. 2007

Capra, F. 2002. The hidden Connections. Doubleday Publishers, September 2002.

Cambry, G. 2010. Personal conversation regarding Dutch funder of community based wood fired CHP plant. February 2010.

Chief Sandile 2010a. Meeting with Chief Sandile, Feb 11, 2010, CES offices.

Chief Sandile 2010b. Meeting with Chief Sandile and the local village headmen and women. Ndakana community hall. February 25m 2010.

Clark, J. 2009. Email correspondence with Julie Clarke form the DBSA, October 2009.

DAFF 2008. Regulations Regarding Control Over The Sale Of Organically Produced Products In The Republic Of South Africa Draft (third edition), Section 15 of the Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990). Department of Agriculture.

Doering, O.C. et al. 2002. Effects of Climate Change and Variability on Agricultural Production Systems. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands.

DTI. 2009. Cooperative Development Presentation. Website http://www.thedti.gov.za/co-operative/presentations/4july/LEGACOOP.pdf. Last accessed June 2009.

ECDC. 2003A. Business Plan to Establish a Fresh Herb Enterprise in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa, Author: Horticultural Projects Incorporated, Eastern Cape Development Corporation, February 2003

ECDC. 2003B. Business Plan to Establish a Herb Hub Processes and Drying Enterprise in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa, Author: Horticultural Projects Incorporated, Eastern Cape Development Corporation, April 2003

Elzakker & Eyhorn, 2010. The Organic Business Guide Developing sustainable value chains with smallholders, Agro Eco Louis Bolk Institute, Netherlands & Helvetas Organic & Fair Trade Competence Centre, Switzerland, IFOAM, Agro Eco Louis Bolk Institute, ICCO, UNEP. 2010

FAO. 2007. Organic Food Security. United Nation Food and Agricultural Organisation. Report number: OFS/2007/REP. 2007

FAO 2009. Low Greenhouse Gas Agriculture: Mitigation and Adaptation Potential of Sustainable Farming Systems. Authors Niggli, U., Fließbach, A., Hepperly, P. and Scialabba, N.) FAO, April 2009, Rev. 2.

FAO Worldbank, 2000 Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems for Rural Development, Strategic Vision and Guiding Principles, Rome, 2000

Horak, M. 2010. Email communication with Dr Marthinus Horak, Manager: Essential Oils and Medicinal Plants, Enterprise Creation for Development, CSIR, March 2010.




IFOAM International federation of Organic Movements website: www.ifoam.org last accessed February 2010

IMVABA 2010, Eastern Cape Provincial Cooperative Development Fund Literature, Eastern Cape Provincial Dept. of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs

IPCC. 2007. Climate Change 2007. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. The Working Group II Contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Katto & Auerbach. 2009. Participatory Guarantee Systems in Africa, Farmers’ empowerment and local market development. IFOAM, August 2009

Mpofu, T. 2010. Personal conversation with Tariria Mpofu, Zimabwean Extension Officer, Gwebe Agricultural College. January 2010.

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13. Annexure

The following documents are attached in the annexure to this report:

A. Cluster Map in A3 Size

B. Formal Stakeholder Meeting Minutes:

a. Minutes of the 11th Amabele PSC Meeting at the Ndakana Community Hall, January 21, 2010

b. Minutes of the Community Stakeholder Meeting at Ndakana Community Hall, February 02, 2010

c. Attendance Register for the Community Stakeholder Meeting at Ndakana Community Hall, February 02, 2010

d. Minutes of meeting with Chief Sandile at CES offices

C. Detailed Climate Data:

a. Historic monthly data from the weather station at Wriggleswade Dam,

b. Historic monthly data from the weather station at Dohne.

D. Soil Sample Details and Analysis

E. Correspondence with potential funders

F. Relevant Literature:

a. The Village Telco Infosheet,

b. Abalimi Bezekhaya Newsletter, September 2009,

c. Concept note for nef Enterprise Support, Irrigation of Inwards Investment and Sustainable Enterprising Communities Element

d. How organic agriculture contributes to economic development in Africa Market-Driven Development of Organic High Value Chains ICROFS 2010 Fact Sheet,

e. Agroecology and Sustainable Development, PAN, 2009,

f. The contribution of Organic Agriculture to Climate Change Adaptation in Africa, IFOAM 2009,

g. Regenerative Organic Farming: A Solution to Global Warming, Rodale Institute, 2008.

Documents

6. Identification and Selection of Cluster Activities Zero Waste Prefeasibility Report... · 6. Identification and Selection of Cluster Activities ... • Maize (dry land) • Maize