Limpopo Province

PROVINCIAL REPORT ON EDUCATION ANDTRAINING FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN LIMPOPO PROVINCE BY MMBENGENI M.E. AND MOKOKA M.S. LIMPOPO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 20 NOVEMBER 2002 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The PRO’s wish to express their gratitude for the inputs and support provided by the PAETTT, NSFT, Extension officers and farmers from different commodities. We also wish to thank Prof. Nesamvuni from Univen for the final editing of the Provincial Report. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is meant primarily for the technical staff (Extensioners) as practitioners, stakeholders like NGO’s AET providers such as Agricultural High Schools and many others because it is them (stakeholders) that need daily guidance in the very difficult work of development. However, it is also meant for the Managers who are responsible for making decisions that will affect the situation and the work of the extension officers at group level. Finally, this report is meant also for the commodity group’s farmers who are the main stakeholders in the development of agricultural products. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Chapter 1 Background 4 Purpose of Study 4 Methodology 4 Description of the Study area 5 Outline of the Report 5 Chapter 2 Overview of the Province 6 Introduction 6 Topography 6 Land 6 Environmental factors 7 Rainfall 7 Water Resources 7 Population 8 Agricultural Status 8 Economy 11 Agriculture Education and Training 12 in the Province Challenges and implications of Development needs on AET 13 Chapter 3 Analysis of training needs and the 14 Requirements of farmers Introduction 14 Farmers’ profile 14 Knowledge and Skills needs of farmers 15 Expressed farmer training needs and 17 Requirements Skills needs of service providers 17 Profile 18 Existing knowledge, skills and experience in 19 Agriculture Farming exposure of extensioners 20 Expressed extensionists training needs and 20 Requirements Chapter 4 Provision of Agriculture Education and 27 Training Introduction 27 – 29 Service providers Providers and linkages 29 Chapter 5 Provisions of Agriculture Education and 31 Training Recommendations Criteria for the selection of providers 31 Cost of training services 32 Conclusion 33 ACRONYMS 34 BIBLIOGRAPHY 35 CHAPTER 1 1.1 BACKGROUND The National Department of Agriculture is developing a National Strategy on Education and Training for Agriculture and Rural Development. The study was initiated by the National Department of Agriculture (NDA) in cooperation with the Provincial Department of Agriculture (PDA) with the assistance of the Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations (FAO). The main objective of the project is to achieve improved livelihoods through greater access to an effective Agriculture Education and Training (AET) Systems, which will develop the capacity of all people working in the agriculture and rural sector. The Province has identified Human Resource Development as part of economic development to which agriculture is a major contributor. This is even more necessary because of skills deficiency both within the Department and farming community in general. Therefore, a meaningful Education and Training strategy demands clear knowledge of the available providers of Agriculture Education and Training, Programmes that are offered and most importantly the clients and their actual training needs. 1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STORY The purpose of the study was to broaden access to agricultural services through the restructuring of extension services to accommodate the expanding client base and also re-orientation of services to cater for the needs of small and disadvantaged farmers. 1.3 METHODOLOGY The methodology used in developing the strategy was participatory and involved both providers and users of Agriculture Education and Training at Provincial level to outline general trends and skills needs in the country and to identify priorities for Agriculture Education links between institutions and their clients. The PDA appointed 2 provincial Research Officers (PROs) to work full- time on the collection of data from providers and clients of the Agricultural Education and Training (AET) system. They also assembled relevant secondary data. Quite wide range of interested stakeholders were requested to participate in Provincial Agricultural Education and Training Task Team (PAETTT) which served as an advisory and support boy for the PROs for the survey findings with the assistance of the technical staff. The survey findings were based on structured questions distributed to Departmental Employees, Farmers, Managers, Schools, Universities, Colleges, NGOs, Cooperatives, Youth groups, Farmer’s Unions: PRA methodology was also used particularly to interest groups, e.g. Northern Livestock, SAMGA group, Vegetable producers and Poultry farmers. Provincial Research officers (PROs) with the assistance of the technical staff from the six Districts of the Limpopo Province collected information from the Provincial Stakeholders. The Provincial agricultural Education and Training Task Team (PAETTT), National Strategic Formulation Team (NSFTs) and the Provincial Research Officers (PROs) drafted, refined the relevant information from different users of AET. To achieve a comprehensive data, a random sampling procedure was used. 1.4 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA The study area included all six districts – Sekhukhune. On average, each sort out of the next section into providers and clients. The research focused on the AET providers in the province, namely: • Universities • Colleges • PDA extension staff • PD management • Agricultural high schools • Other high schools teaching agriculture • Input suppliers (as arrangers of training programmes) etc. The research covered many of the clients, including: • Input suppliers (as learners) • Farmers organizations • Individual commercial farmers • Individual resource poor farmers • Commodity groups • Farmer’s organization etc. 1.5 OUTLINE OF THE REPORT The report provides the AET needs assessment from different provincial stakeholders as illustrated below: • The first chapter details the background of the AET research methodology objectives and the study area. • Chapter two gives an overview of the agricultural sector in the Province and its impact or contribution to GDP of the country. • Chapter three presented the respondent’s skills audit, i.e. what they have and what they require for the sustenance of Agriculture in the Province. • Chapter four detailed the providers of AET, i.e. in terms of their client base, courses offered, methods of training, qualifications and their inputs on what the AET strategy should address. • Chapter five is a summary of the findings as provided by the data collected from the provincial AET stakeholders and also the recommendations by the PAETTT. • Bibliography CHAPTER 2: OVERVIEW OF LIMPOPO PROVINCE 2.1 INTRODUCTION The Limpopo Province is situated in the Northern part of South Africa. It is adjacent to the North West Province, Gauteng and Mpumalanga and shares boarders with Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The province covers an area of 12,3 million ha, accounting for 10.2% of the country’s total surface area. The Province is mostly rural in character, with 89% of the population living in non-urban areas. This is, proportio- nally, the largest rural population in the country. 2.2 TOPOGRAPHY The Limpopo Province can be split into several topographic zones. In the east is the flat to gently undulating Lowveld plain, at an altitude of 300 to 600 m, bounded in the west by the Northern Drakensberg escarpment and Soutpansberg, with steep slopes and peaks up to the 2000m. The almost level Springbok flats in the South lie at an altitude of 900 m, while the Waterberg and Blouberg to the North, with undulating to very steep terrain, reach 2 000 m. The North- Western zone is a flat to undulating plain, which slopes down to the north and west at 800 to 1 000 m. 2.3 LAND-USE Of the total 12.3 million hectares (9.24 million ha.) is utilized as farmland. Of this 9.24 million hectares of farmland nearly (0.93 million ha) is utilized as arable land, (6.68 million ha) as natural grazing (1.7 million ha) for nature conservation (0.1 million ha) for forestry and for other purposes. Of the arable Land 76% is allocated to dry land (0.7 million ha) cultivation and only 0.223 million ha for irrigation systems. 2.4 RAINFALL The Northern and Eastern parts of the summer-rainfall region subtropical with hot summers. Winter throughout the province is mild and mostly frost-free. Information provided by the South African Weather Service, indicates that an average rainfall of 691 mm can be expected annually. A summary of the average monthly rainfall has been provided in Figure 1. FIGURE 1. Monthly average rainfall as recorded in the Limpopo Province. RAINFALL 140 120 100 80 60 Rainfall (mm) Rainfall 40 20 0 Jan Febr Mar Apri May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov. Dec Months Rainfall (mm) Rainfall data indicate that most rainfall occur between November and March, ranging between 80 mm and 130mm. It should, however, be noted that these figures indicate an average rainfall and lower rainfall can be expected in most districts. 2.5 *WATER RESOURCES The Waterberg, Soutpansberg, Transvaal, Drakensberg and Lebombo Mountain ranges as main catchments areas for the following rivers. • Crocodile River: Flowing from Gauteng it flows through the Limpopo Province and joins the Limpopo at the border between South Africa and Botswana. Little potential exists for additional agricultural use. • Mokolo River: The Mokololo Dam controls the river. Water

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