The stud breeders have partnered with the Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA) and they have already provided three training sessions to emerging farmers last year. In 2018, they have already completed an additional training session. ECRDA’s role in the partnership is to transport and cater for the emerging farmers during the training.

“The training has been running since 2017 where three training sessions were completed. One has already been done this year. The significance of these training sessions is not only theory as the emerging farmers are also taken on farm tours by Frontier Bonsmara to get first-hand practical experience on how to run commercial farms.

“Over and above the free training services, Frontier Bonsmara also made available 10 of their registered bonsmara bulls for sale to the emerging farmers at half the price that they would have fetched at a stud bull sale. For example, in the sale the stud bull farmers held in August 2017, each bull sold for an average of R42,000. The emerging farmers were sold the bulls at R20,000 each which are of the same quality as those of the commercial sale. Ten of the emerging farmers each bought a bull to improve their heads back home,” says ECRDA livestock specialist Mathemba Maphuma.

Maphuma says the plan is to extend the training programme beyond the Ngqushwa municipal area to include the Raymond Mhlaba municipal area in the next financial year. ECRDA also push the emerging farmers to attend all the training sessions as certificates are issued.

“We need to improve primary production in order to justify value addition activities. If we do not improve primary production we will have massive challenges at the value addition or beneficiation stage and we would have to import cattle from elsewhere which would be counter-productive to our efforts. This is why we are grateful to the efforts and role being played by Frontier Bonsmara in augmenting and complementing ECRDA efforts,” Maphuma adds.

The Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA) says it has spent R2,4 million in the first phase of a renewable energy system at its Rural Enterprise Development (RED) hubs in order to reduce production costs at the four sites.A further R10 million is required to roll-out phase two of the renewable energy system at all the RED hubs. The agency has already installed a 35kwh grid tied PV solar powered system at each of the RED hubs as part of the first phase. The hubs are located at Emalahleni Local Municipality, Ncora in the Intsika Yethu Local Municipality, Mqanduli in the King Sabatha Dalindyebo Local Municipality and in Mbizana at the Mbizana Loal Municipality.

These hubs link production to processing mills at the villages and other value adding operations as well as marketing. In practice this means, for example, maize is grown by the community, milled in the community, processed and packaged in the community and even sold back into the community with the whole process being owned by these communities.

“The reason for the installation of this system is to reduce high production costs at the RED hubs thereby making them more competitive in the open market by scaling down high overheads of expensive Eskom power. The milling plants at the RED hubs consume most of the electricity. The plan is to develop these systems to such an extent that they are off-grid and rely solely on power generation and to relieve the pressure on Eskom.

“In practice, when the sun is out, the system operates taking over from Eskom power and it will generate its own power. When the sun goes down Eskom takes over again. Even on cloudy days if the PV system isn’t working to capacity, Eskom will supplement the shortfall.  ECRDA needs about R10 million to roll out phase two which includes the installation of a battery back-up system at all the hubs. Integrated into phase two is to have alternative energy supplying water to the RED hubs where necessary. For example, the Mbizana RED hub has no water and it has to be carted form nearby streams. We intend to put in wind turbines to pump water up to the hub,” says ECRDA renewable energy specialist Roger MacLachlan.

MacLachlan says the Mbizana RED hub will be the first to benefit from phase two of the system in 2018 with the installation of a battery back-up system at the cost of R2 million. This means that when the solar panels are working at capacity, they also charge batteries so that the batteries will release power when the PV panels are no longer receiving adequate sunlight. The other RED hubs will also receive the same system once budget has been secured.

Moves to improve the quality and marketability of emerging and subsistence farmer livestock in the Eastern Cape is starting to take a different turn with the establishment of three feedlots in the Transkei with the Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA) having already injected R6,1 million in the roll out in the last year.

Three cooperatives made up of about 20 members each, have gone a step further and put in a further R250 000 of their own funds to buy a stake in each of the feedlots. The cooperatives aim to become commercial feedlot owners. The cooperatives are Lingomso Lamangundwane in Zigudu Village in Cofimvaba, Masichume in Ncora and Mqanduli Feedlot in Mqanduli. Members of the Lingomso Lamangundwane cooperative contributed R51,000 while the Masichume and Mqanduli cooperative members each contributed R100 000.

“Feedlot development is informed by the failure of straight livestock marketing where cattle presented for sale by emerging and subsistence farmers are in such a poor condition such that the animals are “half dead”.  Before being fed at the feedlots most of the cattle for about R4,000 each, but after 75-day feeding period they sell for up to R13,000 depending on the breed. ECRDA funded the development of the feedlots starting from feeding kraals, feedlot equipment, feed, water supplies and the first capital toward labour remuneration to the value of R6,1 million.

“We are delighted that individual community members decided on their own that their contribution to the success of the feedlots would be a voluntary financial injection of between R3,000 to R5,000 per member to buy equity in a feedlot. This is significant as ECRDA only presented the feedlot concept to community and the agency asked for a commitment from them. The communities decided on financial commitments in order to demonstrate ownership and commitment to the feedlot project,” says ECRDA livestock specialist Mathemba Maphuma.

Maphuma says R2 million was spent at Zigudu, R900 000 at Ncora and a further R3,2 million at the Mqanduli Feedlot. In Mqanduli ECRDA bought feedlot equipment because a process to secure a site is underway for building kraals and for feeding of animals.

Each feedlot has received a tractor, hummer mill and a feed mixer. In Ncora and Zigudu ECRDA also implemented water reticulation, bought feed, tractor trailers and fenced around the feeding kraals. In Ncora the agency also bought haymaking equipment and a fine seed planter. Cooperative members also benefitted from exposure trips to a commercial feedlot in Kei Bridge which is owned by Thompson Farming to see how it works.

“We want cooperatives to own the cattle they are feeding there. Currently, they are inviting subsistence farmers to feed their cattle at the feedlot for 75 days after which they would be sold because they would have reached marketable conditions. Farmers then pay over to the feedlots the costs of feeding after their cattle are sold. For three years ECRDA will provide the budget to the feedlots. After this period, the agency will only provide monitoring support,” says Maphuma.

At Zigudu and Ncora the cooperatives intend to apply for loans to buy their own cattle to be fed on the feedlots so that they sell them for their own account.  In Mqanduli a kraal is being at Ngqwarha and the agency has advertised for water reticulation and a storage shed.

Currently the cooperatives are relying on commercial feed which is very expensive for feeding the animals in the feedlots.

“As a result we have a developed a strategy of producing some of the ingredients locally to minimise the feeding costs.  At Zigudu we are putting up irrigation on 15 hectares that will produce lucerne and grain that will be used as ingredients for the feed. At Ncora we have assisted the cooperative to plant grass that they are baling already which will be used as an ingredient in the mixing of their own feed. The intention is to cut feeding costs by half. In the process, we are hoping by year three to start making a profit,” Maphuma adds.