AsgiSA Eastern Cape (EC)
visualizing a vibrant and sustainable rural economy that improves livelihoods and unlocks the dormant potential of the land and the people of the Eastern Cape
AsgiSA is a governmental organization that was set up in 2007. The objective of the organization is to create development in the Eastern Cape region. There are six programmes that are highlighted: agriculture and agro-processing, forestry and timber development, water resource development, hydro and alternative energy, human settlement planning, and tourism development.
The organization, a subsidiary of the Eastern Cape Rural Finance Corporation, visualizes ‘a vibrant and sustainable rural economy that improves livelihoods and unlocks the dormant potential of the land and the people of the Eastern Cape.
Agriculture and agro-processing have taken the centre stage. Integrated cropping programme has already been implemented in selected areas. AsgiSa EC uses adequate fencing, technical information on soil potential, climate conditions and slope as well as community readiness thrugh existing community co-operatives and organised structures. Growth and expansion
AsgiSA EC has doubled its dry-land cropping footprint in the former Transkei from 6,700 h to 12,000 hectares this planting season. This follows a partnership between 11 local municipalities and AsgiSA EC which has committed over R100 million to the expansion of the project which covers OR Tambo, Chris Hani, Ukhahlamba, Amathole and Alfred Nzo districts.
New sites include the Nyandeni, Ingquza Hill, King Sabata Dalindyebo, Engcobo, Intsikayethu, Elundini and Mbashe local municipalities. Funds are provided by the local municipalities. The financial assistance has enabled AsgiSa EC to promote farming in the arid areas. In the past year, more than 2,500 households benefitted from the 6,500 ha land.
Maize production
Communities receive 10 percent of the maize for personal use. The remaining portion is sold to producers such as Sasko and animal feed manufacturers. Maize is the staple food for the province’s rural communities and accounts for nearly 95 percent of the crops planted in AsgiSA EC’s dry land cropping programme. Other crops planted on a small scale are beans, soya beans and sunflowers.
Maize farming on the Ongeluksnek farms in Matatiele has been the most successful with these farmers producing over 4 tons per hectare. Unsurprisingly, AsgiSA EC has increased plantings in this area three-fold from 900ha to 3,000ha. The Ongeluksnek’s yield is also greater than the yield at other AsgiSA EC maize sites such as Butterworth, Mt Frere and Qumbu.
Establishing Silos
The absence of storage facilities had negatively impacted on the pricing and profitability of the first season. A study, which is to determine the number and location of the silos, is due to be completed shortly.
A report by the Grain Silo Industry shows most silo storage facilities are located in the Free State, Mpumalanga and North West, the leading maize producers in the country. The South African Grain Information Services (SAGIS) says there are more than 190 maize millers in the country with the Sasko Mill plant in Port Elizabeth being the only large-scale milling plant from the Eastern Cape.
Another element of sustainability which AsgiSA EC is tackling is building community-run commercial ventures within the agriculture value chain. However, other challenges remain such as insufficient rain and inadequate fencing. AsgiSA EC, which aimed to put 500,000 ha under dry-land planting over 25 years, is currently reviewing its original plans. With the 12,000 ha planting, it expects to achieve 12 percent of its original 2014 dry-land cropping target which was set at 100,000 ha.
Maize milling business
AsgiSA Eastern Cape (EC) has set aside R7 million for the construction of silos at strategic sites in the former Transkei, an investment it believes will up further opportunities like in the area of milling.
The milling plants which will be linked to the silos will produce maize meal and crushed maize as part of AsgiSA EC’s integrated dry-land cropping programme. AsgiSA EC, which expects its silo sites to be ready for its second maize harvest in 2010, completed its first harvest with almost 18,000 tons of maize being harvested in Butterworth, Matatiele, Mt Frere and Qumbu.
“Our first maize yield was harvested onto delivery trucks causing delays in the harvesting process. This method incurred additional costs and affected our monitoring of the exact tonnage of the harvest,” explains AsgiSA EC agriculture and agroprocessing project manager Thukela Mashologu.
“Silos and milling plants are important to the economy as these will ultimately lead to diversification for communities who are looking to the programme to help alleviate poverty and improve food security. The jobs to be created and the small business development are also significant benefits of the integrated cropping programme,” says Mashologu. Mashologu explains that the building of the silos is a start of an ambitious plan of bringing much needed investments in the former Transkei.
Investment prospects
Maize is the staple food for the province’s rural communities and accounts for nearly 95 percent of the crops planted in AsgiSA EC’s dry-land cropping programme. Other crops planted on a small scale are beans, soya beans and sunflowers.
Animal feed production is another viable downstream investment prospect being explored by AsgiSA EC. This will add value to the organisation’s livestock project.
Mashologu explains that AsgiSA EC has embarked on a request for proposals for grain milling and silo management, after which a community public-private partnership arrangement is likely to be formed for managing the grain silos and milling plants.
Expansion of maize project rural Transkei
AsgiSA EC’s maize planting in the Butterworth area has received an unexpected boost by the Zingqayi community’s enthusiastic response to expansion plans for the area.
Villagers from the four communities in Zingqayi, which participated in the 2008-2009 planting and whose project is to expand by more than a third in the current planting, have responded by independently fixing the fencing on 114 ha of dormant land earmarked for planting for this season.
This community, together with communities in Mt Frere, Matatiele and Qumbu, collectively produced an average of 3.5 tons per hectare from last season’s 6,700 ha maize plantations. Adequate fencing is one of four criteria that communities need to address before they can participate in the AsgiSA EC dry-land cropping programme.
The agreement between AsgiSA EC and communities is that each village will receive 200kg of maize when the yield is 4.5 tons per ha. This increases incrementally as the yield improves. AsgiSA EC’s investment promotion and stakeholder relations executive manager Chuma Sangqu adds that existing community structures such as the Chithindlala Committee makes working with villages more efficient.
Planting on 12,000ha, targeting 11 local municipalities in the former Transkei, is currently underway. Although initial plans are under review, AsgiSA EC plans to plant 100,000ha of different dry-land crops (mostly maize) in the rural Transkei over the next five years, expanding this to 500,000ha by 2032.
