Best Management Practices for Smallholder Farming on Two Irrigation Schemes in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Through Participatory Adaptive Research PNS Mnkeni, C Chiduza, AT Modi, JB Stevens, N Monde, I van der Stoep & R Dladla Schemes in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Through Participatory Adaptive Research Participatory Adaptive Through and KwaZulu-Natal Cape Schemes in the Eastern TT 478/10 Best Management Practices for Smallholder Farming on Two Irrigation Irrigation Two on TT Smallholder for Farming 478/10 Best Practices Management TT 478/10 BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR SMALLHOLDER FARMING ON TWO IRRIGATION SCHEMES IN THE EASTERN CAPE AND KWAZULU-NATAL THROUGH PARTICIPATORY ADAPTIVE RESEARCH PNS Mnkeni, C Chiduza, AT Modi, JB Stevens, N Monde, I van der Stoep & R Dladla Report to the Water Research Commission by University of Fort Hare WRC Report No. TT 478/10 DECEMBER 2010 Obtainable from: Water Research Commission Private Bag X03 Gezina 0031 The publication of this report emanates from a project entitled Best management practices for small scale subsistence farming on selected irrigation schemes and surrounding areas through participatory adaptive research (WRC Project No. K5/1477) DISCLAIMER This report has been reviewed by the Water Research Commission (WRC) and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the WRC, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. ISBN 978-1-4312-0059-7 Printed in the Republic of South Africa ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PROJECT BACKGROUND This WRC project (K5/1477//4) entitled ‘Best Management Practices for Smallholder Farming on two Irrigation Schemes and Surrounding Areas in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Through Participatory Adaptive Research’ was commissioned by the Water Research Commission in 2004. Its main objective was to carry out research in Zanyokwe and Tugela Ferry irrigation schemes with a view to develop and implement technologies and knowledge useful for farmers in order to improve their livelihoods and those of surrounding communities. The project was a collaborative undertaking by five institutions namely: the Universities of Fort Hare, KwaZulu-Natal, Zululand (which withdrew in 2006), and Pretoria, as well as Zakhe Agricultural Training Institute. It was conducted in the form of two case studies based in Zanyokwe Irrigation Scheme (ZIS) which uses sprinkler irrigation and Tugela Ferry Irrigation Scheme (TFIS) which uses a short-furrow irrigation system. The University of Fort Hare team was responsible for work in ZIS as well as coordinating the entire project.The KwaZulu-Natal team was responsible for work in TFIS. The University of Pretoria team provided engineering and irrigation water management expertise to the resident research teams at the two schemes. Participatory research methodologies were employed where the smallholder farmers and other stakeholders were involved in project activities from the initial stage to the end. During year one of the project a detailed situation analysis was carried out at the two selected irrigation schemes to determine the reasons for their poor performance through participatory analysis and evaluation of the social organization, institutional framework, infrastructure, natural resources, markets, livelihoods and farming systems. This was followed by a stakeholder workshop held in Pietermaritzburg in August 2005. The workshop discussed the findings of the situation analysis and identified four key constraints at the two schemes that needed to be addressed in order to achieve increased productivity. These were weak or poor institutional arrangements, lack of stable markets, dysfunctional irrigation infrastructure, and poor crop management. An action research program was then developed, aimed at gaining a better understanding of the underlying causes of the constraints and ways to address them. A summary of the project findings is presented hereunder. WEAK INSTITUTIONAL AND ORGANISATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS The situation analysis conducted at the beginning of this project in 2004 revealed that most of the problems at ZIS and TFIS were institutional and related to governance of the schemes. Both schemes had very weak organisational and institutional arrangements. Therefore, any revitalization of the schemes hinged first and foremost on the strengthening of farmer organisations at both schemes. The organisational structure at ZIS was the Zanyokwe Agricultural Development Trust (ZADT) while at TFIS iii farmers in each of the seven blocks were organised into farmers’ associations affiliated to a scheme-wide umbrella committee. Both organisations were largely ineffective and did not ably discharge their responsibilities, which negatively affected productivity and overall performance of the two schemes. The ineffectiveness of the farmer organisations was partly attributed to the fact that the organisations were trying to manage all issues at the schemes, i.e. the water, land, and infrastructural issues as well as farming related activities like mechanization, procurement of inputs and lobbying for produce markets, contrary to an established best practice of having separate management of infrastructure and farming related matters. To address this shortcoming, the project team worked with DWAF to form Water Users’ Associations (WUAs) at both schemes to specifically deal with the management of water and infrastructure functions. For the management of farming related activities in ZIS, four primary cooperatives were registered and two were at advanced stages of registration at the termination of the project. In addition, a central Farmers’ Cooperative for ZIS was established to take the place of ZADT which had to be disbanded due to its ineffectiveness. In Tugela Ferry, a decision was taken to revive the defunct Msinga Vegetable Producers Cooperative (MVEPCO), to serve as the umbrella body responsible for managing the farming related functions. The main responsibilities of the central co-op in ZIS and MVEPCO in TFIS are to organise markets for various products, purchasing inputs as well as to solve problems experienced by primary co-operatives. These organisational structures were in formative stages at the time project activities terminated, so their long-term impact will depend on conclusion of the formative processes and ensuring their continuation. Land tenure was a major institutional challenge at the two schemes. It was particularly serious in Zanyokwe where insecure land tenure arrangements are limiting access to land and undermining interest and commitment to farming. Zanyokwe has at least 3 types of tenure systems: freehold (landowners), quitrent (pay rent to magistrate) and right to occupy (communal under traditional leadership). Farmers on quitrent and ‘right to occupy’ land tenure arrangements have no sense of ownership and hardly invest in new technologies. While the project team tried to address the problem during the lifespan of the project, no headway was made in solving it by the time project activities were terminated. There is thus an urgent need to develop policy on land tenure that would favour those interested and capable of farming so as to improve on productivity and overall scheme performance. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONSTRAINTS Farmers at both ZIS and TFIS cited lack of capital and stable markets as major socio-economic problems at the schemes. The lack of capital is due to the fact that most households in Zanyokwe and Tugela Ferry earn incomes below the poverty line and thus have limited capacity to invest in their farming enterprises. To compound the problem, they also have limited or no access to credit because credit iv facilities tend to be available from big and well-structured financial institutions that do not cater for small scale producers allegedly because of the prohibitive cost of managing many small loans. In addition, they also lacked the security and collateral required by these financial institutions. This means that farmers cannot invest in necessary farming inputs or hire labour, which inevitably affects their productivity. Farmer organisations at the schemes need to explore ways of accessing credit facilities through micro-finance institutions that are better equipped to serve clientele without the security and collateral required by bigger financial institutions. Lack of stable markets was singled out as significantly contributing to poor scheme performance at both ZIS and TFIS, and therefore an important leverage point in improving performance at the schemes. The underlying causes for the market instability included poorly organised markets, unsatisfactory marketing services provided by middlemen, informal marketing contracts, lack of pricing standards and poor state of infrastructure related to marketing (roads, storage facilities, etc.). Analysis of the different weaknesses in the marketing process led to the participatory adoption of a two-pronged strategy for addressing the marketing problems. This involved the immediate addressing of problems whose causes were known followed by a study to unravel the less understood causes. One action that was immediately taken was the strengthening of management structures of both schemes as articulated above. The strengthening of farmer organisations gave farmers the collective strength they needed to influence markets to their advantage. This intervention has started to bear fruit in that a major change in the area of marketing