food insecure spaces of poverty 2011

8/6/2019 Food Insecure Spaces of Poverty 2011

1/36


2/36

FOOD INSECURE

SPACES OF POVERTYin rural Western Cape

This study was written by

Emil Skovgaard Andersen

Supervisor

Abdulkadir Osman Farah

Development and International Relations, Aalborg University

9. Semester, January 2011


3/36

Food insecure spaces of poverty in rural Western Cape - 2011

Table of contents

1. Introduction (Spaces of Poverty)...........................................................2

2. Research question.................................................................................33. Approach and Methodology..................................................................44. Food insecurity within spaces of poverty in rural Western Cape...........65. Alternative paths to food security........................................................10

5.1. Food gardens in poor rural communities ..............................................11

5.2. Small scale farming on commonages.....................................................12

6. Case studies........................................................................................146.1. The case of Barrydale............................................................................14

The historical context of Barrydale...........................................................14

Food gardens in Barrydale........................................................................16Small scale farming by members of the poor community ........................186.2. Community farmers in Riviersonderend................................................22

7. Discussion; comparing cases and understanding causes......................238. Recommendations...............................................................................269. Conclusion..........................................................................................3010. List of Acronyms and abbreviations...................................................3111. Bibliography......................................................................................3212. Appendix A.......................................................................................33

13. Appendix B........................................................................................34

1


4/36


1. Introduction (Spaces of Poverty)

IM HUNGRY, CN'T THINK

- Bonnievale Youth banner

The first important aspect of rural food insecurity in the Western Cape is its spatial nature,

side by side with wealth poverty prevails and with poverty comes food insecurity. When you

drive through the rural areas of the Western Cape one of the things you will notice is how

almost the entire infrastructure, rural towns and villages are geared towards supporting a

highly developed and modern agricultural sector geared towards export of mainly wines and

all sorts of fruit. Another thing you will notice as you drive through the small urbanised spots

in rural Western Cape is the repeated pattern of geographically confined spaces of absolute

poverty. Sometimes they are a part of the small towns and cities, often they are at the

periphery and sometimes they are located outside. Even though there is a huge variation in the

appearance of these confined spaces of absolute poverty, from townships established during

the apartheid era to shack towns and informal settlements, their presence is a defining

characteristic of urban space in rural Western Cape. These spaces are often very isolated from

each other as the distances are huge and public transportation is mostly absent or expensive.

Unemployment is very high in these spaces as they absorb regional surplus labour and are

highly dependant of casual and seasonal work in agriculture and related industries. These

geographically confined spaces of absolute poverty hold a disproportionally large number of

food insecure rural households.

This study examines food insecurity in spaces of poverty. The Concise Oxford Dictionary

defines poverty as, the state of lacking adequate means to live comfortably and the want ofthings or needs indispensable to life." Another definition that is widely used is that of OECD,

Poverty encompasses different dimensions of deprivation that relate to human capabilities

including consumption and food security, health, education, rights, voice, security, dignity

and decent work. Food insecurity, malnutrition and food deprivation are some biggest

challenges faced by households and communities in these spaces and these challenges (or

phenomenons) are placed in a dialectic relationship with poverty. On the interrelations

between food insecurity and poverty FAO (2008:3) states that While poverty is undoubtedly

2


5/36


a cause of hunger, lack of adequate and proper nutrition itself is an underlying cause of

poverty. Therefore in order to fight poverty in these spaces it is necessary to fight food

insecurity and thus; also the obstacles to improving food security.

The purpose of investigating the nature of food insecurity in these spaces of poverty is to

come up with recommendations, to residents and social activists living in these these spaces,

on how and where to act in order to improve community and household food security. The

present socio-economic context of rural western cape, with a particular focus on the spaces of

poverty, will be examined in order to form a basis on which such recommendations on self-

organised initiatives for improving food security can can be built. To achieve these goals the

following research question will guide this study:

2. Research question

How can communities located in spaces of poverty in rural Western Cape

improve their own food security, taking their present socio-economic reality into

consideration?

The focus of this study is not to provide solutions and guidance to policy makers on how to

resolve problems, but to assist in providing information to the residents of poor rural

communities in the Western Cape, hereby assisting them in building a basis for social and

political action. This focus on collective self action is based partly on the experience that the

South African government, especially on municipal and provincial level, seldom act on behalf

of the marginalised when pressure from below is absent, and the assumption that the best

vehicle for such pressure is the self-organised popular movements and organisations of the

lower echelons of society representing none other that themselves. It is my opinion that when

the poor communities are empowered to decide by themselves; how to organise, improve and

develop: the development initiatives taken and demands championed reflect the social reality

and needs which these communities experience and hereby form a cornerstone in ensuring

sustainable social and economic development within and between these communities.

Therefore the purpose of this study is to contribute to the debates within the popular social

movements organizing within the poor rural communities on how to organise, mobilise and

3


6/36


take action to change the current social realities faced by these communities. Another purpose

of the study is to contribute to the already existing information on the social realities faced by

the food insecure communities in spaces of poverty in rural Western Cape.

3. Approach and Methodology

This study is a case study examining conditions of food insecurity in spaces of poverty. The

study is sub-divided into three sections; 1. an examination of the present socio-economic

realities and the nature of food insecurity within spaces of poverty in rural Western Cape; 2. the

conditions wherein alternatives to income based food security, can exist (alternatives defined as:

food gardening, and small-scale farming on commonages); 3. and finally a discussion of thefindings in the two previous examinations leading to recommendations for community action.

In examining the conditions wherein alternatives to food security based on income can exist,

case studies from spaces of poverty in rural Western Cape will be used as the basis for

understanding these conditions. The two main cases are from Riviersonderend (Theewaterskloof

Local Municipality) and Barrydale (Swellendam Local Municipality), which are both located in

the Overberg district. Beside from these two cases results from previous studies in Breede River

Valley will be used.

The bulk of data assembled and used in this study is collected in the period between the middle

of September and December 2010. It is qualitative data collected through observations,

discussions and interviews. Observations cover both observations done when staying and

moving around in the rural areas and poor communities; and observing meetings and workshops

either engaging residents in poor communities or held by their own organizations. Taking

minutes and notes have been the main method of data storage in these situations; some data

have been obtained through discussions with local residents, social activists and NGO staff. The

interviews was done in a freeform approach with relatively few questions making as much space

as possible for the interviewed to tell their own story. One challenge in conducting the

interviews was that several of the interviewed preferred to speak in Afrikaans or either entirely

partly (rendering me dependant in an translator). In total 10 people were interviewed including 2

community activists.

4


7/36


The main sources for external data used in this study is derived from livelihood and household

surveys conducted by TCOE in collaboration with Mawubuye in Bonnievale, McGregor,

Ashton, Robertson and Montagu; and from a study by TCOE utilizing data from survey as well

as cases from the poor communities. The approach to obtaining data for the research was based

on Participatory Action Research, and the outcomes was analysed by PLAAS. Data extracted

from the above studies and used in this study are mainly statistical data describing the socio-

economic realities in the poor communities and qualitative data on household livelihood

strategies.

Other sources were studies on the nature of food insecurity in South Africa and studies onpatterns of employment in agriculture and its related industries. Official statistics published by

Statistics South Africa have also been used in outlining the patterns of employment in Western

Cape agriculture and its related industries.

5


8/36


4. Food insecurity within spaces of poverty in rural Western Cape

This chapter will examine present socio-economic realities and the nature of food insecuritywithin spaces of poverty in rural Western Cape. The socio-economic realities - as well as the

nature of food insecurity, experienced by residents living within spaces of poverty in Rural

Western Cape is important: when accessing the possibilities these communities have for

improving their current situation (in relation to food insecurity) and thus either initiating

processes of positive social development or counter the development of underdevelopment.

This part of the study will rely on research conducted by others, official statistics as well as

personal observations and data retrieved while I was in the Western Cape rural areas with

TCOE, Mawubuye and CSAAWU.

The Definition of food security that forms the basis for the vision of the Integrated Food

Security Strategy of the South African Government (DoA 2002:13) originate from the 1996

World Food Summit. Food security, according to this definition: exists, at the individual,

household, national, regional, and global levels when all people, at all times, have physical,

social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs

and food preferences for a healthy and active life (FAO 2001). Due to the high agricultural

output in the Western Cape food availability is not the obstacle for achieving food security in

poor rural communities. Generally South Africa is perceived as food secure. Because of this

it is often overlooked that large numbers of households within the country are food insecure

(Altman et al2009:7) and the tools for standardized systematic monitoring of the internal

food security situation is not properly developed and lack investments. The reason for this

might be complacency regarding the national food security situation (Hart 2009:34). This is

potentially dangerous when taken into consideration that South Africa is one of the most

socio-economic polarized countries in the world and compared to other middle income

countries, it has extremely high levels of absolute poverty (Altman et al2009:7). The fact

that a country is national food secure does not mean that every one within have equal access

to proper sources of food and the more polarized a country is, the more skewed the access to

food is.

In South Africa food insecurity is not an exceptional, short-term event, but a continuous threat

6


9/36


for more than a third of the population. The two most common nutritional disorders in South

Africa is stunted growth and being underweight. A survey from 2005 shows that 51.6% of

South African households have experienced hunger, one out of three were at risk of hunger

and only one out of five appeared to be food secure. The geographical distribution of

households experiencing hunger was highest in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and

Limpopo. Most rural households are net deficient food producers. The poor in the rural areas

have suffered the most from food price increases as most households in these areas are

partially or wholly reliant on household income as their access to food. "Households at risk

or experining hunger were consistenty related with socio-economic factors including

household monthly income, weekly expenditure on food and employment status" (Agrekon

2010).

When people in the spaces of poverty are employed in agriculture, the wages they earn is

often very low, about R6.31 per hour, R284 per week (TCOE 2009b:32). The same goes for

related industries for instance: at the Robertson Abattoir workers, residing in the Nkqubela

township, earned R315 per week without benefits. Often the households located in these

spaces depend on the wages earned by few or only one member of the household; again the

workers at the Robertson Abattoir serves as an example as each worker was responsible for

supporting and feeding, on average, 6 people. 1 The research conducted in 2007 by TCOE and

Mawubuye in the Breede River Winelands reveals that in the rural Western Cape hunger is of

a cyclical nature and connected to the extent and patterns of employment in commercial

agriculture. In recent years commercial agriculture have not only contracted, but is also

undergoing a process of shifting towards temporary casual and seasonal employment rather

than full time employment (TCOE 2009b:32). The results are backed by other studies earlier

studies as well as official statistics (See appendix A). Data collected by Andries du Toit and

Fadeela Ally indicate the growing importance of temporary workers. More work is done by

off-farm temporary workers than by permanent workers; off-farm temporary workers also

predominate over regular ones in absolute terms; the volume of work, measured in time

worked, by permanent workers was only half as much as that done by off-farm temporary

workers (Ally et al2003:11). According to du Toit and Ally it is widely accepted that labour-

1 During the last days at my internship I spent a lot of time working together with dismissed workers from theRobertson Abattoir.

7
http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/


10/36


intensive horticulture is shedding jobs (Ally et al 2003:6). This employment shift is not

unique for the Western Cape, it is a nation wide tendency. A 2005 study by Nkuzi found that

between 1985 and 2004, in the wake of the shift towards temporary casual and seasonal

employment 1.7 million farm dwellers had been displaced (Nkuzi 2005:41), 10.6 percent of

the evicted households were located in the Western Cape (Nkuzi 2005:59) often evicted

farm dwellers moved to nearby townships (Nkuzi 2005:86). The influx of people from farms

to formal and informal rural and urban townships have had a significant negative impact on

unemployment in these spaces. The consequence of unemployment is poverty. Which in turn

has a series of consequences. One of them is: "physical weakness and malnutrition within the

household, as a result of a lack of food and inadequate nutrition, puts an additional burden

on schools and healthcare facilities that attempt to provide feeding schemes" (Nkuzi

2005:173). It is estimated that roughly 70 percent of the poorest households in South Africa

live in rural areas (Ally et al2004:3).

In relation to the employment and food insecurity situation in the Western Cape; the 2007

Breede River Valley survey by TCOE and Mawubuye survey showed that 76 percent of all

respondents did not have a permanent job, but 63 percent reported that another person/other

persons in the household did so. The survey furthermore indicated that very few householdshave any other form of income, other than state welfare grants. In the survey 80 percent of

households reported that during the past year there were times when the household had little

to eat. During the year households experiencing shortages of food increases from 35 percent

in January to 72-73 percent in June-July-August and then declines to the lowest levels in

November and December (10-9 percent).

Reported levels of hunger

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

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

Months

Percentage

Farm dwellers Town Households

8


11/36


The survey, even though focused on households in Breede River Valley, outline the seasonal

nature of food insecurity in the Western Cape as it follows the same patterns as the annual

agricultural employment trends in the province. During off-peak seasons, poor people

experiences widespread hunger, trapping those dependant on seasonal income in a vicious

cycle of poverty and food insecurity year after year (TCOE 2009b). The cyclical nature of

hunger and food insecurity related to seasonal patterns of employment in commercial

agriculture and related industries, in the Western Cape make it relevant to examine

alternatives to income based food access. The alternatives commonly available to residents in

poor communities include engaging in farming activities on micro-scale (food gardening) and

small-scale (often on commonage land) both of which are heavily dependant on access to

water. In poor communities in the Western Cape there is an interest in engaging in micro- and

small-scale food production.

When Mawubuye representatives from the poor communities in Ashton, Barrydale,

Bonnievale, Buffelsjaag, Robertson, Swellendam and Villiersdorp held a meeting in

September 2010 in Villiersdorp they outlined the problems their communities have in

common. Beside from the: high rates of unemployment; the seasonal character availablework; lack of rights for farm workers; no proper sanitation; overcrowded clinics; experiencing

extreme poverty with children eating out of garbage bins; drugs are common with the youth;

and high crime levels, the representatives also emphasized the lack of land for housing,

growing crops and grazing and the problems with accessing water. Representatives from

communities were the practice of food gardening is absent expressed interest of introducing

these practises to their communities.

9


12/36


5. Alternative paths to food security

The following chapters, including the case studies, will examine the conditions wherein

alternatives (for communities confined in spaces of poverty) to income based food security

based income can exist. These alternatives have been defined as: food gardening and small-

scale farming on commonages (micro- and small-scale food production). In improving the

food security situation of communities located within spaces of poverty it is necessary to have

an understanding of the current conditions wherein alternatives to income based food security

can exist. Both of these alternatives to income based food security provide the possibility of

improving food security from a multidimensional approach as these enables improvements on

the for dimensions of food security. These four dimensions are commonly defined as: Food

availability, Food access, Utilization and Stability (FAO 2008:1). According to FAO all of

these four dimensions must be fulfilled simultaneously for food security objectives to be

realized (FOA 2008:1).

Therefore this study will examine the challenges faced by those who engage in household

food gardening; and by those residing in these communities who engage in small-scale

farming. The basis for this study will be two case studies the first on community small-scale

farming in Riviersonderend. The second is a case study I conducted for TCOE on the

challenges of accessing water experienced by the poor community in Barrydale in relation to

household food gardening and small-scale farming: Information from other case studies

conducted by TCOE and information I have retrieved by engaging with other poor

communities of rural Western Cape will also be utilized in this part. When examining small-

10


13/36


scale farming the study will focus on farming activities on commonages, as commonages are

linked directly to the communities living in the rural towns.

5.1. Food gardens in poor rural communities

We want to plant food gardens, because the poverty is high.

- Resident in Villiersdorp

Available evidence indicates that food production for own consumption, whether in the form

of vegetable gardens or in the form of small-scale livestock husbandry, is more important for

household food security in rural communities than it is in their urban communities ( Aliberet

al 2004:62). Under optimal conditions food gardens and domestic livestock production in

poor communities can play an important role in rural areas when it comes to improving the

food security. It can contribute to household income and be an addition to nutritional

diversity. Vegetable and fruit gardens have a particularly important potential role in improving

the flow and composition of nutrition (Aliber et al 2004:4). Research indicate that rural

households engaging in cultivation appear to have a substantially greater diversity of food

intake, not least of vegetables, than those that do not (Aliberet al2004:61). Serious constraintsfor domestic food production in rural communities include access to extension support and to

water (Aliber et al 2004:61). It should be noted that food production for household

consumption provides a set of additional grounds for expenditure on water and electricity

infrastructure. Therefore the success of such activities is often dependant on income.

However if successful it permits expenditure of limited income on other more nutritious foods

(Hart 2010).

There do not exist any comprehensive data estimating the provisional or national extent of

food gardens, but it can be said that the extent and popularity of food gardens varies a lot

from community to community. For example in Barrydale the use of food gardens as a

supplement a way of acquiring additional food seems to be quite extensive. In the five towns

of the Breede River Winelands (Bonnievale, McGregor, Ashton, Robertson and Montagu)

there is an estimate of about 1 200 individual food gardens with the highest concentration in

the Mandela Square Informal Settlement in Montague and the Ashbury township (TCOE

11


14/36


2009b:35). The backyard food gardens not only provided the individual household with

additional food, but at times they where also able to provide for other destitute households in

the extended family. In the case studies conducted by TCOE and Mawubuye in Mandela

Square the interviewed was of the belief that they could expand their food production if they

were provided with access to more land, water and government extension services (TCOE

2009b:50-52). The cases indicate the absence of any kind of state support to household food

gardens in rural Western Cape. The absence could have been caused by a public blind spot or

simply that the public authorities do not care about household food gardens and the initiatives

of the poorest in local society. However popular NGO's and social movements like Women on

Farms and Mawubuye have provided support in the form of seedlings and helped obtaining

tools from the DoA.

5.2. Small-scale farming on commonages

We love the ground and we love to work here...

- Small-scale farmer, Barrydale

Commonage is municipal owned land reserved for agricultural purposes of the poor and

landless. There exist two types of commonages; new and existing. Existing commonages is

land that was granted by the state to white municipalities for the use and benefit of poor white

town residents during the 1800s and onwards (TCOE 2010:2). Under the apartheid it was

common practice for the municipalities to lease the commonages to white commercial

farmers. After 1994 all town residents became entitled to access municipal commonages,

however by then most of these commonages were already being leased to white commercial

farmers; some with long term leases of up to 50 years (TCOE 2010:3). New commonages

consist of former commercial agricultural land that has been purchased with state funds by a

municipality since 1994 (TCOE 1994). The title deeds of commonages are subjected to

special conditions that prevent a municipality from selling, donating or swapping the

commonage land; also a municipality may not agree to the registration of a bond against the

commonage to secure a loan; and the municipality is obliged to make the land available to its

residents only, with the emphasis on the poor and less privileged, on a secure end equitable

basis (TCOE 2010:2).

12


15/36


Commonage projects faces a series of challenges whether they are individual or collective

projects. The first challenge is accessing the limited land, which often is either leased to

commercial agriculture or unavailable because of bureaucratic inefficiencies. The second is

travel distance to the commonages. The third is the state or absence of infrastructure on the

land. The fourth is the access to water caused by lack of infrastructure for irrigation or the

absence of user rights to available water. the fifth is the absence of support from

municipalities and/or departments. The sixth is the issue of accessing commercial markets for

the purpose of selling surplus production. Water access and lack of extension services was a

problem for the collective small-scale farmers working on commonages in Ashton and Zolani

(TCOE 2009b:36). When a collective of small-scale commonage farmers in Suurbraak

harvested their crops (4000 heads of cabbage) the only commercial off-taker was located in

Worcester, after the transport costs had been covered the farmers was left with a profit of

R900, for half a year of work.2 In the TCOE case studies market access for surplus was also

one of the challenges faced in Ashton, Zolani and McGregor (TCOE 2009b:36). This should

be seen as a clear indication that the problem, in this situation is of a structural nature: The

institutions for commercial off-take is developed to serve centralised large-scale agriculture.

Limited financial support, lack of formal land rights, limited access to land water and fencingare problems faced by stockholders in Zolani and Nkqubela (TCOE 2009b:36). The case of

the community farmers in Riviersonderend is an example of the challenges to small-scale

farming caused by bureaucratic inefficiencies, neglect and even animosity from the

municipality. Problems related to the distance to commonages offered by the municipality to

the farmers, problems related to accessing water as well as other challenges were all present

in Riviersonderend in the last quarter of 2011. The case of Riviersonderend will be examined

later in the study.

2 Based on personal notes from the internship.

13
http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/


16/36


6. Case studies

6.1. The case of Barrydale

The following is a case study on the challenges experienced by the residents living in the

township on the outskirts of Barrydale engaging in food gardening and small-scale farming

on commonages. The challenges experienced in Barrydale by the poor community are not

unique for this community, but seem to be repeated in many poor rural communities

throughout the Western Cape, which the contents of the previous chapters is a clear indication

of. The information used in this study is mainly retrieved through interviews conducted in the

poor community in Barrydale on the 24. and 25. November 2010 with its residents, some of

them social activists. The case study document the experiences and challenges faced by the

poor community in Barrydale in relation to water access and usage. Even though the main

focus gravitates around issues of water access and usage in relation to micro- and small-scale

food production in the poor community, other issues surfacing through the interviews will

also be covered. This case study will first outline the historical context for the current water

issues in Barrydale, thereafter the current water issues in relation to food gardening within the

limits of the township will be outlined. After examining what is going on within the borders

of the township, the issues and challenges related to small-scale farming in the surrounding

areas by members of the community will be examined. Throughout this document a particular

focus will be directed towards what the members of the community thinks could be done to

improve the current situation.

The historical context of Barrydale

The following is a short introduction to the historical context of Barrydale, its divisions and

social conflicts. During the apartheid the coloured residents of Barrydale was forcefully

removed from their homes in the front of the town and relocated to a township at the outskirts

of Barrydale. This separated the community of Barrydale into two communities; a rich white

community at the front of the town and a poor coloured community in the back of Barrydale.

The latter serving as a cheap labour force for the white community and the surrounding

14


17/36


commercial farmers. In the process of being displaced from their homes and relocated to the

townships the coloured people also lost their rights to use irrigation water. The loss of the

rights to irrigation now poses a huge problem for the residents engaging in food production in

their gardens. The social and spatial division of Barrydale into a rich, mainly white,

community and a poor, mainly coloured, community still prevails even though apartheid fell

sixteen years ago. From the front of the city most of the township is hidden behind a hill and

it leaves you with the false impression that the socio-economic divides are smaller in

Barrydale, than in other places. Resident in the poor community are to a high extent

dependant on work in the surrounding agriculture and its related industries and in the off-

season, unemployment rates in the community drastically increases. In the off-season the

community experiences hunger and about 500 residents are dependant on the soup kitchen.

In the beginning of 2009 Barrydale was the centre for an escalating conflict between the

municipality and the residents of the township over access to water and electricity. In

February about 30 households in the poor community in Barrydale had their water and their

electricity cut off. Nobody got a notification that they had a certain number of days to settle

their account. On Friday 27 February 2009 in the morning there was a peaceful march to the

municipal office where the community handed over a memorandum. When the municipalmanager, Walter Hendricks, received the memorandum he said, in front of cameras and

everyone, that he had already instructed municipal officials to turn the services back on. So

the community went back and waited for their water and electricity to come back on, but

nothing happened. So later that day they went to the offices to find out why the services had

not been turned on again. They were arrested but released later that afternoon. Officials once

again told them that the municipal workers would not go home without turning on the

communitys services, still nothing happened. On Monday 2. March, the community went

back to the offices to make a follow up to find out why people were still without water. The

municipal officials responded by calling in the police from as far as Montagu and

Swellendam and 28 members of the community where arrested. The woman were sent to

Swellendam holding cells and the men were sent to Montagu. When a community leader,

Dulcie Wyngard, went to visit arrested members of the community in the prisons and to

arrange a lawyer the police refused to allow her to visit the detainees. The arrested members

of the community were charged with breaking the peace and holding an illegal public

15


18/36


meeting/demonstration. Since then the court has postponed the case and eventually all charges

were dropped. The community gained support from surrounding communities, the Anti

Eviction Campaign, Mawubuye and other organizations in the Alarm Network.

Food gardens in Barrydale

Currently many of the residents in the poor community are producing food in their gardens.

For these residents the biggest challenge in relation to food production is water. Because the

people does not have the rights to use irrigation water in their gardens, they are forced to use

drinking water for irrigating their food gardens. The issue of drinking water being the only

stable source of water is a major challenge to the efficiency and success of the food gardens.

Sustaining a food garden in a semi-arid environment requires relatively large inputs of water

and with accessible water being expensive the success of the food gardens to a high degree

are dependant on household income. Residents interviewed reported that it costs them about

R200 - 300 in monthly water expenses to sustain a food garden. This expense is problematic

since households tend to be dependant on the income of only one or a few members and often

the household have no income as all the members of the household is unemployed, especially

in the off-season. The dependency on income for covering the water expenses is problematic

in itself as the food gardens should be viewed as alternatives to food insecurity caused by low

and unregular wages. This issue is intensified because the income security is lowest in off-

seasons and therefore in these periods where the need for alternative sources to nutrition are

at their highest, the household food production are under the highest pressure. Eventually the

water prices are threatening the success and continuation of the food gardening projects.

Residents in Barrydale who are engaged in food gardening reports that these food gardens

helps them to make the day and to improve their situation. There is a huge diversity in the

vegetables grown in the gardens in the community and some are even growing fruit like

peaches. In their gardens the residents are planting potatoes, onions, cabbages, beans, maize,

carrots, vinegar etc. The residents interviewed was under the impression that if these gardens

are maintained under the right conditions and with sufficient access to water they can have

quite high yields. One resident even point out that if everyone were able to have a food

garden in their backyards, and the municipality would supply water or at least provide proper

16


19/36


support for the water ticket, it would sort out the much of the problems related poverty in the

community. As one of the interviewed points out; the household food producers also need

support in order to gain access to seedlings.

Support, however, is not something which the residents in Barrydale seems to receive. Beside

from some limited equity shares, that according to the interviewed are so small that they ain't

actually good for anything, the municipality do not provide anything for the households in the

poor community. It is the experience of the interviewed residents that the municipality does

not even want to listen to the people of the community when approached. A factor in raising

the level of frustration within the poor community (and probably also intensifying tensions

between the social divides in Barrydale) is the experience, that there apparently are different

rules applying to the rich community and on the other hand the poor community. In the

poor community people have to keep their livestock outside of the city limits and if they don't

they will get problems with the local authorities. This however does not seem to be the case in

the rich community according to a resident in the township who is a stockholder.

Some residents are seeking alternative ways to improve the garden water supply, and reduce

costs. For instance one of the residents interviewed in this study is collecting rainwater fromthe roof of her house and collecting it in oil drums. This has helped her to save money on her

water bill. However the area have in the recent years been plagued by extended periods

droughts thereby reducing the efficiency of such solutions.

If you look at the geography of Barrydale it becomes clear that the poor area not only needs

the rights to use irrigation water for their food gardens, but that there also is no infrastructure

in place to provide that kind of water supply. This local condition of underdevelopment can

be attributed to the historical policies of forced removals, ethnic segregation and spatial

confinement of the apartheid system and the current lack of interests from the municipality

and relevant departments to engage in improving the living conditions in the poor community.

Another thing that becomes apparent when moving around in the poor community is that just

beside the community, where people so badly need better and more secure access to water, on

the outskirts there is a huge fenced water ground reservoir owned by one of the local

commercial farmers (See Appendix B).

17


20/36


Small-scale farming by members of the poor community

In Barrydale some residents are active in small-scale farming, and Barrydale Small-scale

Farmers association has currently about 25 members. Beside from the farmers active in the

small-scale farmer association, Mawubuye Land Rights Forum is running a Nursery close to

the town. The small-scale farmers are working on commonage land leased from the

Municipality for between R3 R5 per hectare. The Nursery is also residing on commonage

land leased from the Municipality. The nursery is located on a 2 hectare plot to the west of

Barrydale near the river by Route 324. There is an ongoing project to connect the nursery to

Barrydale Small-scale Farmers Association, however the problem of water first needs to be

sorted out. Because the river dries up in the summer the nursery have no access to water for

longer periods of time annually. The nursery is, dependent on a diesel pump in order to pump

water which makes its water use quite expensive.

According to the locals the minister of agriculture recently visited Barrydale, and the

Department of Agriculture have some projects in the pipeline to build structures in the rivers

near Barrydale for the purpose of water catchment. Another government project mentioned by

the locals, is a project to build a channel to the community dam used by small scale farmers

located to the south west of Barrydale. The purpose of the channel is to catch more rain water

from the mountains. These projects has however not been initiated yet.

The area west of Barrydale seems to be the place where the small-scale farmers are

experiencing the biggest trouble regarding water access as the irrigation infrastructure is less

developed than on the east side of Barrydale. Some of the farmers have no license to pump

water from the river even though their farms are residing just beside of the river. For one

farmer, who is farming 4 ha west of Barrydale, the problem is that it is too expensive to

pump water because the Department of Agriculture issued him an electrical pump which

annually cost R17 000 to run. He would like to sell the pump and buy a cheaper diesel driven

pump, but the department has not provided him with the papers that states that he is the owner

of the electrical pump. Another problem the farmers are facing on both sides of Barrydale is

18


21/36


that the rivers dry out in the summer. This phenomenon is worst on the western side of

Barrydale because this area has the least developed water infrastructure and limited access to

reservoirs and dams. However even though the eastern side has better access to irrigation

systems and water reservoirs these are also usually drying up in the middle of the sommer in

January/February and during droughts as the one that hit the region from March to

September 2010. One place on the eastern side there are 6 small-scale farmers, sharing a

community dam/reservoir. The water is free but there is to little water for to many farmers.

Under normal circumstances there is usually enough water available on the eastern side in the

winter. Some of the small-scale stockholders keep their stock together an pay the water bill

for their livestock as a collective. The current situation on the small-scale farming activities

around Barrydale is that they are water insecure and in a very precarious situation because of

changing weather patterns, droughts, insufficient licences regarding water extraction and

poorly developed irrigation infrastructure (including reservoirs) available to these activities.

Another dimension that adds to the precarious state of these activities is the high cost of water

since some stockholders are forced to provide their animals with water from the freshwater

supply or because the existing infrastructure is to expensive to use (as with the case of the

electrical pump). The current circumstances are threatening the very survival of many of the

projects currently undertaken by members of the poor community in Barrydale.

For the farmers who focus on growing vegetables the drought this year has caused some

severe problems. They have experienced crop failures due to the lack of water and they are

still struggling very hard to recover.

One experience all of the farmers have in common is the lack of interests from (and thefailure) of the municipality to live up to its obligations regarding help and support to the

small-scale farmers in the area. One of the farmers says that small-scale farmers are alone,

and that "the municipality don't do anything to help or assist, they don't come out to see what

is going on and they do not want to listen." The farmer suspects the municipality for actually

holding the small-scale farmers down. This impression is shared by other farmers, another

farmer notes that he think the municipality does not want to help because they are more

interested in getting a fat check for themselves. When small-scale farmers has approached

19


22/36


the municipality to give help and advice related to issues of water usage and small-scale

farming, they have been meet with a complete lack of interest from the officials.

For at least one of the small-scale farmers the lack of interest in the well being of small-scale

farmers goes beyond the municipality and is also a problem when it comes to the The

Department of Agriculture and The Department of Water Affairs. He argues that The

Department of Agriculture is supposed to give advice to small-scale farmers, but they are not

providing this service. Also according to him they . ..don't even see the Water Affairs. He is

not the only farmer who has noticed the that the departments are difficult to approach, as

another farmer has had problems with attaining a license for pumping water off the river.

According to some of the farmers, the municipality is in charge of funds from Social

Development earmarked to provide needed support to small-scale farming activities. In order

to gain access to these resources the small-scale farmers need to request for resources to

develop the farms or acquire seeds from this fund. However the municipality tend not to

respond on these requests. Usually when the farmers request seeds or materials for repairs or

upgrades from this funds through the municipality they don't even get a response. One of the

farmers put it in this way You get no response on orders, it is a bad municipality that are

actually doing nothing for us. We love the ground and we love to work here, but if it is going

on like this it is not even worth coming here, we have nothing to put in the ground... ...We

want to do something, that is the whole point. We try even with nothing to put in the ground.

The funding had not always been placed under the administration of Municipality. Before the

funding was administered by the Department of Agriculture and then there were no problems.

According to one farmer the problems started when the responsibility of the funding wastransferred to the Municipality. One farmer expresses frustration when he on the TV sees that

in other provinces the small-scale farmers receive lots of support. While in the Western Cape

nothing happens.

If things are to change the farmers agree that the municipality need to involve itself in the

community. Farmer gets lease contracts on the commonages, but beside from this the

municipality does not provide any kind of support or training and the municipality is not

20


23/36


interested in working together with the small-scale farmers in order to find solutions. One

farmer points out that the farmers need are money to develop the land farmed and water. Up

until now many of them has used their own assets, but they are poor people and it is not cheap

to get even a small farming project running. One of the interviewed farmers argues that if the

municipality continues to be a failure, the funding earmarked for small-scale farming which

are currently placed in a Municipality account should be placed somewhere else. A suggested

solution is to transfer the control of the funding back to the Department of Agriculture.

According to one of the interviewed the lack of access to markets is also a problem in

Barrydale, they need access transport they can afford.

Some of the small-scale farmers on the east side were thinking in moving into lucerne

production, because of its many qualities.3 They think it could be done as a community

project and the money generated (R40 per bale) from the harvest could be used to assist the

school, the church and to aid the old people in the community. As a part of this project they

were also interested letting local commercial farmers help, for example by transferring skills

or lending equipment. The same farmers were also interested in getting access to kikuyu seeds

because it has deep roots and therefore are more efficient than the grass they are currently

letting their stock graze on. They think the small-scale farmers need 50 kilos of Kikuyu and

lucerne.

3 According to the small-scale farmers, it grows fast and can be harvested three times a year, after harvest the

sheep can grass for a period and then it just need some water to grow again. It is very good as animalfeedstock.

21
http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/


24/36


6.2. Community farmers in Riviersonderend

This section is based on a minute from a workshop on commonages, held by TCOE,Mawubuye and Meentboere in Riviersonderend 14 October 2010, where the residents

engaging in small-scale farming had the opportunity to tell their story. The poor community in

Riviersonderend is another place were the residents are experiencing problems with the

municipality in relation to Small-scale farming. In Riviersonderend several members of the

poor community are engaged in small-scale farming, mainly in stock holding. About 25

members of the community are organized in Meentboere, an organization of small-scale

stockholders. They are mainly holding pigs, goats and cattle. Meentboure activities are

located on 2 ha of commonage surrounded by the dumping site, the graveyard, the sewage

plant and a commercial farmer. They have been using the land since 1997, but have however

never been able to obtain any any official lease on the land. Their access to water is poor:

They need transport water km, from where the water-pipe ends, in buckets in order to bring

water to their livestock. Beside by the problems of not being able to obtain any official lease

on the land, the stockholders have experienced several problems with the municipality. For

instance the municipality will not allow the stockholders to put up permanent structures for

their livestock on the 2 hectares, and the municipality claim that the land is earmarked for

housing, and that it has been sold to a developer (which is illegal, as commonage cannot be

sold). Members of Meentboere also report that the municipality is refusing to identify and

provide information on municipality commonages. The municipality wants to relocate the

Meentboere to 60 hectares of land 8 km away, however this land is not usable and lack

necessary infrastructure and access to water. Also, because of the distance from

Riviersonderend the land is difficult to access for the small-scale farmers and they can

therefore not take proper care of their livestock. It is not a safe place to have animals. They

have failed to come up with any plans regarding to how the 60 hectares should be developed.

There has also been no effort from the municipality to bring in other government department

in order to develop this land. The stockholders report that the municipality is exploiting a

local conflict between the commercial stockholders and a local commercial farmer: After the

fence around the 2 ha of land used by the stockholders was severely damaged by flooding,

they have had difficulties keeping the the cattle on the land. The consequence have been that

the cattle has been grazing on the land belonging to the commercial farmer. The outcome

22


25/36


have been that the commercial farmer is threatening with shooting the cattle. Instead of

assisting the stockholders with putting up a new fence or pressurising the commercial farmer

to fence his own land, the municipality had responded to the conflict by threatening the

stockholders with eviction. Because of the above it is the impression of some of the

stockholders that the local government is acting in order to destroy them.

7. Discussion; comparing cases and understandingcauses

In this chapter the findings in the case studies will be discussed and compared to each other

and to previous research.

In relation to food gardening, The problems experienced in Barrydale are very similar to those

experienced in the cases from other spaces of poverty documented by TCOE. This indicates

that the findings in this study outline general problems to micro- scale household food

producers living in poverty throughout Western Cape. However none of the interviewed

expressed interests in obtaining more land. This could be because of a blind spot in theinterviews where the main focus was on water related problems to micro-scale food

production. It could however also be because it is easier to access commonages in Barrydale

than in other places.

Water is a central problem to household food production in Barrydale. The high cost of the

water that is available to the gardens is constantly threatening the success of these activities.

The conflict of 2009 indicates that the price levels on basic services, including water is

putting the households in the community under severe economic pressure. The households

engaging in micro-scale food production are dependant on tap water because the township is

excluded from the garden irrigation system in Barrydale and thus spatially underdeveloped

compared to the front end. Historically the problems with insufficient water access in the poor

community originates from the segregation policies of the apartheid which has defined the

path of spatial development and underdevelopment in Barrydale.

23


26/36


The income dependency in relation to water access is a problem in itself as it hinders the food

gardens in being real alternatives to improve food security by reducing the impact of these

activities. This problem is intensified in off-seasons when household income is at its lowest.

The unsatisfactory level of municipal support and the events during the water conflict indicate

a blind spot at the municipality. Either they don't care or they don't understand the challenges

which the poor community in Barrydale faces. It was however the wishes of the interviewed

that the local government would provide more support. The problems with local government

will be discussed further after comparing the cases of commonage small-scale farming in

Barrydale and Riviersonderend. One of the interviewed in Barrydale however did try to break

the income dependence of her food garden and had been improving it by setting up home

made equipment for rainwater catchment.

When comparing the Riviersonderend and Barrydale cases of commonage small-scale

farming by members of the poor community, it becomes evident that they, even though there

are qualitative differences, in general faces several of the same problems in relation to their

food production activities. It also become evident that these problems are similar to those

experienced by small-scale commonage farmers in the TCOE case studies. However, in

Riviersonderend the farmers faces a broader range of challenges and obstacles. InRiviersonderend they have problems of accessing useful land, and they have not been able to

obtain official rights to the land they are currently using this does not seem to be a problem

in Barrydale. In Barrydale they have access to land, however there was some worries about if

the municipality would reclaim the land because they have not been able to develop it or put

it into productive use due to the problems faced. In Riviersonderend the a major problem with

the land offered by the municipality, is its distance from Riviersonderend making it unusable

for the majority of the small farmers. Looking at common problems faced by the small-scale

farmers in the two communities water emerges as the dominant obstacle. Both in

Riviersonderend and Barrydale there are problems with accessing water, and in both cases the

problems stems from either the absence of infrastructure or the insufficient state of it. Another

commonality in the cases, seems to be the absence of sufficient support from municipalities

and/or departments and even hostility (there are conflicts between the poor communities and

the municipalities in both towns). The indifference and at times even hostility of local

government towards the people living in spaces of poverty seems to be an underlying cause

24


27/36


for the absence of support and extension services. This again could be caused by bureaucratic

and institutional inefficiencies and misconfigurations within the departments and

municipalities or it could be seen as a product of the political economy, ideology and

relationships between institutionalised political and commercial social segments of the

municipalities. It is however beyond the scope of this study to examine such issues, but it

would be issues that in future studies is important examine in depth.4

What can be said, in relation to these cases, is that the indifference, the neglect and hostility

of local governmental institutions, is an underlying cause for the problems with accessing

water by food producers, both micro- and small-scale, in spaces of poverty. It should also be

seen as a cause of the lack of sufficient support and extension services in areas like: fencing,

seeds and tools. And could be a contextual framework for understanding why some

municipalities tend to offer land that is either marginal, underdeveloped or placed far away

from the communities. Thus the behaviour of local governmental institutions should be

identified as the primary obstacle to success of these alternative strategies for improving food

security.

4 As it could form basis for strategies and tactical choices of residents and social activists living in spaces ofpoverty when approaching, challenging or addressing local government.

25
http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/


28/36


8. Recommendations

In the following the recommendations on how to improve the food security in spaces of

poverty in rural Western Cape will be presented. The goal for the poor communities in poor

spaces should be to positively change the conditions wherein small-scale and micro-scale

food production can exist within their communities. In the previous chapters it was shown

how individual households and commonage projects was struggling against the apathy of the

local government and how they lacked access to water and water. In general the food

producers knew how to grow crops, vegetables and how to keep livestock, but were under

external pressure due to the in difference of the public authorities and the problems of

accessing water and land. The recommendations will be on an institutional basis and gravitatearound how to put up structures for practical solutions within and between communities by

bringing people together.

They (the poor communities) should also aim at helping each other with doing so, for instance

by knowledge sharing og by establishing organisational networks for cooperation and

resource piling. Knowledge sharing is important, because the level of practical knowledge on

food production differs a lot within the community, and especially between the communities.

Spreading out knowledge already existing within a community (and to other communities),

hereby raising the general level of practical knowledge would help improving the efficiency

of the individual households food gardens and commonage projects. Beside from knowledge

sharing mutual aid between food producers, and between food produces and the broader

community, should be nurtured within and between communities.

Therefore there should be taken initiatives to establish self-organised structures within

communities such as Food Garden Forums, where those who engage in food gardening can

meet and discuss their experiences, share tools and help each other when necessary on a

regular basis. The same kind of structures, for the same purposes, should be established for

both individual and collectives of commonage small-scale farmers within the community.

There should also be formed Community Forums were the small-scale and micro-scale food

producers can engage with other parts of the community, so as to coordinate and cooperate. In

26


29/36


such forums food support and aid to hungry households could be coordinated as well as aid

for the elderly and donations to institutions such as schools and soup kitchens. In relation to

community food production, Community Forums could also be used to coordinate help to

small-scale farmers from the broader community when needed. and make community

projects as the one suggested by small-scale farmers in Barrydale realisable. Where such

structures already exists the should be strengthened and broadened. By establishing and

strengthening such organisational structures space for social and material development in and

between such communities can be opened. The organisational structures, if structured

properly can be spaces for democratic empowerment within the communities enabling

residents to take decisions and act collectively on issues relevant for the well being of the

community.

The following is a suggestion on how to empower the residents and motivate them to

establish such structures, and to link those structures in different communities to each other.

The suggestion is to use movement building to create space wherein these structures can be

realised and bound together. Mawubuye already provide organisational space for building

movement and should be used to facilitate the process. A reason for this approach is the

apathy of the local governmental institutions, both municipalities and departments, towards

the well being of the rural poor documented throughout this study as well as the contraction

of agriculture and the casualisation of agricultural labour necessitates an approach which does

not rely heavily of official goodwill and job creation in the formal sector. A movement based

approach could be a way of improving food security not only though political work. It could

also improve food security by creating the structural capacity to do so through collective self-

organisation. Because of the above issues (official apathy and a contracting economy)

recommendations will be based on building movements in order to facilitate improvements of

community food security by communities.

Both this study and previous research should be seen as a clear indication that the problems

around water access, basic- and extension services are general problems to most of the spaces

of poverty in rural western cape. Therefore the communities living in these spaces has a

common ground for raising political claims, they should take advantage on that common

27


30/36


ground. This common ground could be used to break the often high level of isolation of these

spaces. I would recommend to revitalize the campaign around water and basic services,

extend it far beyond Barrydale and use it as a foundation for both social mobilisation in

spaces of poverty, and as a tool to build links of solidarity and cooperation both within and

between these spaces hereby forging the basis for the emergence of a broad social

movement of the rural poor.

The movement should initially be organised around the following demands and goals:

First and foremost around the demand that the Municipalities and the Departments starts to

engage with the poor community and the small-scale farmers on these issues in a democratic

way that are based on the empowerment and active participation of the poor rural community

and small-scale farmers and influence, by the communities and small-scale farmers, over the

processes of adjusting and implementing those policies.

The movement should forward the demand, that the municipalities should commit themselves

to providing the same level of irrigation infrastructure common in the rich, usually white,

communities to the coloured and black communities confined in spaces of poverty. This

infrastructure is vital to creating the conditions for sustainable food gardens. If these gardens

are maintained under the right conditions and with sufficient access to water they will have

high yields benefiting the community as a whole. The water for irrigating should be freely

accessible for the poor residents.

In the meantime the residents should be provided with sufficient access to water for their food

gardens by granting extensive economic support to the water usage of the residents. The

amount of water needed to maintain their gardens should be free of charge. This would also

create a long-term incentive for the municipalities to deliver the proper infrastructure for

irrigating the gardens.

Likewise it should be demanded that the Municipalities and the departments should provide

free, equal and sufficient access to water to all poor small-scale farmers working on

commonages.

The movement should mobilize in order to force the Municipalities to live up to their

responsibilities and begin to use the funding earmarked for developing and supporting the

small-scale farmers for the purpose intended.

28


31/36


Beside of using the social mobilisation to forward demands and pressurise local government

and public institutions, the social mobilisation and movement building should be used to form

and strengthen local organisational structures both within and especially between the spaces.

The movement can be used to facilitate direct links between communities to enhance

dialogue, knowledge sharing, coordination and to enhance the process of de-alienating the

communities from each other. Establishing inter-community structures could also be used to

link commonage farmers and stockholders (both those who farm as individuals and those who

farm as a collective) between communities, again enabling cooperation, knowledge sharing

but also to open up for the possibility establishing institutional framework for resource and

equipment sharing. Such institutional framework could also be used to pile up agricultural

output and hereby a tool to reduce the individual costs of accessing the institutions for

commercial off-take. Likewise it could be used to enable processing of agricultural output by

the communities and hereby creating community control over value-addition, thus leading to

higher profits, if markets can be accessed.

These structures could also be used to establish seed-banks and support nurseries in and

across communities, hereby broadening the support to micro-scale farming households and

small-scale commonage farmers. Knowledge sharing was mentioned earlier, the inter-

community structures established within movements should be used actively to share

knowledge concerning micro, small-scale farming and water catchment between

communities. They should also be used to gain access to sustainable technologies useful in

micro- and small-scale farming under the conditions present in rural Western Cape. Building

organisational structures within and between spaces of poverty could also form the basis for

establishing distribution networks between communities for the purpose of mutual aid.

29


32/36


33/36


10. List of Acronyms and abbreviations

CSAAWU

DoA

FOA

IMFed

Mawubuye

OECD

PLAAS

TCOE

The Commercial Stevadoring Agricultural and Allied Workers Union

Department of Agriculture

Food and Agriculture Organization (UN)

International Metalworkers Federation

Mawubuye Land Rights Forum

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies

Trust for Community Outreach and Education

31


34/36


11. Bibliography

Agrekon2010 Drimie, Scott and Ruysenaar, Shaun. 2010 The Integrated Food SecurityStrategy of South Africa: An institutional analysis. Agrekon, 49: 3, 316 -337

Aliberet al2005

Aliber, Michael; de Swardt, Cobus; du Toit, Andries; Mbhele, Themba;

Mthethwa, Themba. 2005. Trends and Policy Challenges in the RuralEconomy. HRSC

Aliberet al2004

de Klerk, Mike; Drimie, Scott; Aliber, Michael; Mini, Simphiwe; Mokoena,

Reuben; Randela, Rendani; Modiselle, Salome; Vogel, Coleen; de Swardt,

Cobus; Kirsten, Johan. 2004. Food Security in South Africa: Key policyissues for the medium term. HSRC

Altman

et al2009

Altman, Miriam; Hart, Tim; Jacobs, Peter. 2009 "Food Security in SouthAfrica". HRSC

DOA 2002 Depardement of Agriculture. 2002. Integrated Food Security Strategy for

South Africa

FAO 2001 FAO. 2001. "State of Food Insecurity 2001". Rome: Food and AgricultureOrganisation.

FAO 2008 Food and Agriculture Organization (UN). 2008. An Introduction to theBasic Concepts of Food Security .

Hart 2009 Hart, Tim. 2009. "Food Security Definitions, Measurements and RecentInitiatives". HRSC

Nkuzi 2005 Grundling, Irma. Russel, Bev. Wegrif, Marc. 2005. "Still searching forsecurity. Nkuzi.

PGWC et al2010

Provincial Government Western Cape; Provincial Treasury. 2010.

"Provincial Economic Review and Outlook 2010"SSA 2005 Statistics South Africa. 2005. "Census of Agriculture Provincial Statistics

2002"SSA 2006 Statistics South Africa. 2006. "Census of Agriculture Provincial Statistics

2002 - Western Cape"SSA 2007 Statistics South Africa. "Census of Commercial Agriculture 2007"

SSA 2010 Statistics South Africa. 2010. "Quarterly labour force survey 2010"TCOE

2009a

Trust for Outreach and Education. 2009. "We also want land"

TCOE

2009b

Tom, Boyce. 2009. Land Reform and Rural Livelihoods in the Breede

River Winelands. TCOETCOE 2010 Trust for Outreach and Education. 2010. Municipal Commonage, how to

access and use it

32


35/36


12. Appendix A

Recent developments in the agricultural workforce

The table below shows the changes in the size and composition of the employed labour force in

agriculture from 1993 to 2007, both for South Africa nationally and for Western Cape provincially.

From 1993 to 2007 the national amount of workers employed in the commercial agriculture declined

from 1 093 265 to 796 806 (SSA 2007). This is a decrease of ~27.1 percent in the size of the employed

agricultural workforce. The amount of workers employed nationally has since continued to drop down

to about 640 thousand by the end of third quarter 2010 (SSA 2010). This is a decrease of ~19.7

percent between 2007 and 2010. All in all the employed agricultural workforce has dropped ~41.5

percent from 1993 to 2010. The national tendency of declining employment in agriculture does also

occur in the Western Cape. In 1993 the total number of paid employees in the Western Cape was 202

962 (SSA 2006). In 2002 the total number of paid employees in the Western Cape was 223 175 (SSA

2006). In 2007 the total number of paid employees in the Western Cape had dropped to 189 489 (SSA

2007). Even though the Western Cape experienced a small growth in agricultural employment from

1993 to 2002 of ~9.2 percent, the total employment declined from 2002 to 2007 with about 14.5

percent. The decline has since then declined to about 136 thousand in 2010 (SSA 2010) indicating a

further decline of ~ 28.2 percent. From 1993 to 2010 the total agricultural employment in the Western

Cape has declined ~ 33 percent.

Between 1993 and 2007 the assembled data indicates that nationally the regular employed workforce

decreased by 33.4 percent from 647 905 to 431 664. While the casual and seasonally employed

workforce decreased by 18 percent from 445 360 to 365 142. However in the Western Cape the

regular employed workforce only decreased by 13.1 percent between 1993 and 2007 and the

casual/seasonal workforce remained almost unchanged. The latter however peaked in 2002 and

33

Distribution of agricultural employment (full-time, casual and seasonal) in SA and WC Source: SSA 2005, 2006, 2007

1993 2002 2007

Total Full-time Total Full-time Total

South Africa 647 905 445 360 1 093 265 481 375 459 445 940 820 431 664 365 142 796 806

Western Cape 104 646 98 316 202 962 98 207 124 968 223 175 90 943 98 546 189 489

Full-time(Regular)

Casual& Seasonal

Casual& Seasonal

Casual& Seasonal

Quarterly employment in Agriculture 2008 2010 Source: Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2008 2010

Q1 2008 Q2 2008 Q3 2008 Q4 2008 Q1 2009 Q2 2009 Q3 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2010 Q2 2010 Q3 2010

Thousands

South Africa 799 790 767 764 738 710 660 624 658 630 640

Western Cape 181 162 119 131 145 146 123 128 172 149 136


36/36


decreased from 124 968 to 98 546 by 2007 (A decrease of 21.1 percent in 5 years). This has created a

situation where almost half of the nationally employed agricultural workforce can be considered

precarious and more than half of the agricultural workforce employed in the Western Cape can be

considered precarious.5

13. Appendix B

Satellite map over the township in Barrydale.

5 Precarious work is defined by the International Metalworkers Federation as: typically non-permanent,temporary, casual, insecure and contingent. Workers in these jobs are often not covered by labour law and

social security protections. Precarious work is caused by employment practices designed to maximizeemployer profits and flexibility and to shift risks onto workers. In highly-industrialised countries full-time

jobs are being replaced by precarious jobs, while in developing countries precarious work has always been

the norm... ...Precarious work is an increasing problem on every continent, undermining wages and

conditions of work and threatening to divide working people. It flourishes wherever there is a labour surplus

and workers are driven to accept work at any cost conditions that exist in many, if not most, parts of theworld today (IMFed 2007)
http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/

food insecure spaces of poverty 2011

Documents