Week 7

Visit to the Non Governmental Organization CAP (Church of Agriculture Program)

The visit took place in Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal province. It is an NGO dedicated to improve the agriculture practices to insure food security in families. Basically, they are subsistant farmers. The NGO has small staff but each one has designed functions.

In the visit I had the opportunity to be part of a Zulu family. It was an extraordinary experience. I slept in a roundhouse, ate phuthu, learnt Zulu and shared their life style. Electricity service is not available in all the community and there is a shortage of water. From my point of view it is interesting how they organize their lives.

I appreciated the contribution of a German consulter. He came five years ago to see the farmer’s situation especially in animal production. He researched the Unguni beef cattle for production and found that these animals are more resistant to long periods of hunger; tick bone diseases and are good producers of milk and meet.

Owing to the fact that the consulter is in Msinga, the NGO organized different farmer’s days to share knowledge on common problems in cattle, chicken and goats production. Also, the farmers talk about the good practices. It is a excellent way to stimulate the learning.

The first farmer’s day was for chicken raisers. On this day a visitor from a Belgium foundation joined to see the NGO’s work and interaction with the producers. At the beginning the farmer show the feed given to the chicks. It was a mixture between old phutho, eggs and yellow maize. He spoke about his experience and the benefits of his cheap source of feed.

Common problems the chicken raisers face is the control of dogs and goats and other animals that eat the eggs and chicks. For that reason they made special nest for the hens and they put in the trees. Furthermore, the price of the yellow maize is high and in some places the cultivation of this crop is not possible for the lack of water.

The second day was dedicated to cattle farmers. The principal problem is acces of pasture, is a very dry zone and the winter in long. They need to identify a way to preserve pasture for winter or use source of feed. Water shortage is also a trouble. Ticks cause problems because they transmit diseases.

The third day was dedicated to meet the chicken raisers in a different area. This meeting was quite similar to the last, but this day the NGO provided the farmers with vaccinations for the chickens. The vaccination is sold far away from the community, so the NGO supplies the product.

Furthermore, I had the opportunity to attend one meeting with all the staff and see how they organize the activities; resolve the problems and, logistic aspects. They use colours to separate the good and the bad things during the farmer’s day. Each person has to write two good and bad aspects that occurred during the day. Everybody is encouraged to comment.
All in all, it was an incredible experience that helped make me a better person. Understanding how they live contributed to my personal plus professional development. After the days in Msinga, the concept of rural areas in South Africa is clear, also motivates me to learn more about extension agriculture. Thank you Ms Gugulethu Mbatha and the entire CAP staff for letting me live this experience! See you in Lesotho on December 1st !!!