1 PROVINCIAL REPORT ON EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE By Provincial Research Officers: G J O MARINCOWITZ D J BARNARD DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE: WESTERN CAPE 29 NOVEMBER 2002 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Purpose of the study 1 1.3 Methodology 1 1.4 Outline of the report 2 CHAPTER 2 AN OVERVIEW OF THE AGRICULTURAL/RURAL SECTOR IN THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE 2.1 Introduction 3 2.2 Geographical/Environmental features of Western Cape 3 2.3 Demographic features 3 (numbers and types of farmers/rural population) 2.4 Agricultural Activities (sectors, land use, contribution to 7 GDP) 2.5 Non-Agricultural Activities (of farmers/rural household) 12 2.6 Agricultural Education and Training in the Province 13 2.7 Provincial, National and Global Imperatives 13 2.8 Challenges and implications of development needs on Agricultural Education and Training 13 2.9 Conclusion/Summary 13 CHAPTER 3 EDUCATION AND TRAINING NEEDS FOR AGRICULTURAL (AND RURAL) DEVELOPMENT 3.1 Introduction Training Needs Analysis 14 3.2 Knowledge and Skills needs of Farmers (according to 14 farming system, commodities, gender and age) - Activities (existing and potential) - Skills required to undertake activities - Existing knowledge and skills - Skills gap and training needs (incl. Dev/strategic needs) - Preferred training methods and providers 3.3 Conclusion/Summary 35 CHAPTER 5 AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING GAPS (DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS) 4.1 Introduction 36 4.2 Education and Training in Higher Education (HE) 36 - Courses/training offered - Target groups 3 - Enrolment Method of provisioning/training - Management - Cost of tuition - Capacity of resources 4.3 Education and Training in General Education and Training 37 (GET) and Further Education and Training (FET) - as above 4.4 Informal Training and indigenous Knowledge 39 4.5 Conclusion/Summary 39 CHAPTER 5 AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING GAPS (DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS) 5. 1 Introduction 40 5. 2 Are providers targeting the right client? 40 5. 3 Are the courses/programs aligned to clients needs? 40 5. 4 Are methods of provisioning/training (delivery system) 40 meeting preferred methods or conditions of clients? 5. 5 Is the cost of tuition affordable? 40 5. 6 Are admission requirements appropriate for potential 41 clients? 5. 7 Are the resources and capacity of providers geared to 41 meet training requirements? 5. 8 Is the education/training system adaptable to the new 41 system of outcome/performance based learning (NQF, SAQA)? 5. 9 Is the system relevant to Imperatives? 41 5.10 Conclusion/Summary 42 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 43 BIBLIOGRAPHY 45 4 Figure 2.1 The location of Rural Communities in the Western Cape, 2002 (GIS, Resources Centre, Elsenburg) Table 2.1 Western Cape Sectoral GRP 1999 and 2000 Table 2.2 Western Cape key exports 1999 and 2000 Table 2.3 Gross farm income for the Western Cape and SA 2001 Figure 2.2 Land use patterns for the most important agricultural activities of the Western Cape Table 3.1 The type of farming by Emerging and Commercial Farmers, 2002 Table 3.2 Average highest qualification of Emerging Farmers, 2002 Table 3.3 Average highest qualification of Commercial Farmers, 2002 Table 3.4 Perceived average level of knowledge and skills (existing and needed) of farmers, 2002 Table 3.5 Preferred Providers of training by farmers, 2002 Table 3.6 Perceived satisfaction by farmers, with the training received from different providers, 2002 Table 3.7 Gender of Farm Worker respondents, 2002 Table 3.8 Age distribution of the 160 Farm Worker respondents, 2002 Table 3.9 The number of years schooling of the Farm Workers, 2002 Table 3.10 Number of short courses attended and those still to be attended by respondents, 2002 Table 3.11 Farm Worker posts as well as those envisioned in five to ten years time, 2002 Table 3.12 Perceived present level of knowledge and skills of the farm workers on farms of resource poor (emerging) and commercial farmers Table 3.13 Age of ex-students of FET, 2002 Table 3.14 Number of successful years at school by ex-students, 2002 Table 3.15 Number of short courses attended and those still to be attended by respondents, 2002 Table 3.16 The present posts held by ex-students as well as those visualized in five years time, 2002 Table 3.17 Perceived contribution towards their skills, of courses attended by respondents, 2002 Table 3.18 The gender of the ex-students of Higher Learning institutions, 2002 Table 3.19 The age categories of ex-students of Higher Learning, 2002 Table 3.20 The qualifications of the ex-students of Higher Learning, 2002 Table 3.21 The major fields of study by ex-students of Higher Learning, 2002 Table 3.22 Perceived contribution of aspects related to tuition in agriculture towards the knowledge/skills of ex-students, 2002 Table 3.23 In-service training of ex-students, 2002 Table 3.24 Follow-up qualifications of ex-students, 2002 Table 3.25 Study fields of follow-up studies by ex-students, 2002 5 Table 4.1 The structure of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Figure 4.1 The backgrounds of students in GET and FET, 2002 Table 4.2 Perceived obstacles identified by NGOs in the Western Cape, 2002 6 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AET Agricultural Education and Training AFU African Farmers Union ARC Agricultural Research Council FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization FET Further Education and Training GARC Goedgedacht Agricultural Research Centre GDP Gross Domestic Product GET General Education and Training GFI Gross Farm Income GRP Gross Regional Product HE Higher Education IC International Consultant LDU Land Development Unit LRAD Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development NDA National Department of Agriculture NGO Non-Governmental Organizations NPC National Project Co-ordinator NQF National Qualification Framework NRO National Research Officer NSFT National Strategy Formulation Team PAETA Primary Agriculture Education and Training Authority PAETTT Provincial Agricultural Education and Training Task Team PDA Provincial Department of Agriculture PDC Previously Disadvantaged Communities PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal PRO Provincial Research Officer RRA Rapid Rural Appraisal RSA Republic of South Africa SA South African SAQA South African Qualification Authority TCP/SAF FAO Code for this project 0067 TNA Training Needs Assessment 7 8 FOREWORD STRATEGY ON EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR AGRICULTURE Education and Training is a fundamental right guaranteed by the South African Constitution. In terms of Section 29 everyone has the right to a basic education, including adult basic education and to further education that the state, through reasonable measures, must make education progressively available and accessible. In order to create conditions for sustainable growth and development in South Africa and in a competitive international environment, a highly skilled, well- educated work force is undeniably essential. Education is a key activity in South Africa’s economic and social development and as such forms a cornerstone in the government’s Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy. Following the transformation from apartheid to a democratic society, the Agricultural Education and Training System need to drastically reorient and restructure their services to allow for a new democratic focus and expanding client base. The education and training system has to be reoriented to deliver services to small and medium scale farmers, female farmers and farmers who are facing resource, land, information and market constraints, those who were previously denied access to education and training. The development of a National Strategy on Agricultural Education and Training is a mammoth task. Provincial Research Officers (who are officials responsible for executing line function responsibilities in the Provincial Departments of Agriculture) were tasked to do a scientific needs assessment of existing and potential clients for agricultural training and service providers, and to ensure adequate stakeholder participation in developing an education and training strategy. Measured against the results obtained thus far, this is a task well done! I therefore would like to thank and commend Dr Marincowitz and his team for their commitment and dedication with which this project was driven and executed in the Western Cape. M.J. PAULSE DIRECTOR: TRAINING DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE: WESTERN CAPE 9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As can be seen from this Report, Agriculture plays a very important part within the economy of the Western Cape. As the largest producer of several commodities, agricultural education and training is of critical importance and has to have a high priority as to ensure the continued well been of the province. Imperatives that may effect this well being must be addressed. The export- orientated environment within the province requires that education and training place emphasis on marketing, exporting and competitiveness. Afrikaans as an educational medium must be acknowledged whilst the literacy and numeracy levels need to be improved. This province must furthermore be part of the national strategy to relieve poverty, create job opportunities and address the HIV/AIDS crisis. From this report several conclusions could be made, and the main ones, having the biggest impact on the design of an AET strategy are presented in a very condensed way. • An exceptional need for AET at various levels of tuition was identified. The need for short courses in particular, for farm workers and resource poor farmers at low levels as well as short courses at fairly high educational levels for agricultural scientists and commercial farmers were identified. In the wine industry it was found by Leiboldt that gaps with regard to training needs for the workers at a fairly low level in the industry as well as needs for high levels of tuition (at PhD level) for Executive Managers exist. Research in other disciplines were not done, but according to experience it is safe to argue that the same human resource development needs will be found in others enterprises, eg.