BAPEDI BA DINKWAYANE ENGAGES WITH AGRO ECOLOGY – Nelson Ngoveni

The Bapedi Ba Dinkwanyane Water Stewardship Project is funded by Flanders State of the Art. As per project agreement between K2C and the Hoedspruit Hub, the role of the Hoedspruit Hub is to support smallholder farmers in the Bapedi Badinkonyane area with agro ecology training.

The first week of theoretical agro ecology training kicked off on 19 August 2019 and continued for four days until the 22nd. The training took place at the Thorometshane Primary School in Phiring, where there is a class facilities and where a site is being converted into a demonstration garden. There was a good turnout from the farmers who signed up for the training (22 farmers), with the Environmental Monitors (EM) attending too (6x EMs).

With the group’s significant age differences, we saw fit to create an atmosphere of participation. We created five groups with five participants in each group. One EM was placed with each group to facilitate discussion within the groups and also to help with explanations of English terms that would occasionally come up. Although the material is in English, all the classes were conducted in Sepedi, as it is the local language of the area. 

Summary of topics covered:

Climate change - A comprehensive discussion on the definition of climate change, the causes of climate change, the difference between climate change and weather, and a focus on the local impacts of climate change from the farmers’ perspective were discussed.

Agroecology - A look at agroecology as an alternative low cost organic crop production system, and why it is suitable for smallholder farmers, especially as a climate change adaptation and mitigation tool. Farmers also had the chance to think about and put down reasons why they feel agro ecology is viable and why do they personally have an interest in the practice.

Farm planning - conceptualising and designing a farm centred on agro ecological production principles. The importance of planning and taking into consideration all elements involved in production. Farmers participated in an activity where they envisioned their ideal organic farm and drew a map with all the resources that they would need to be productive.

Compost making - A theoretical discussion on the materials used for compost making, the role of those materials in the decomposition process, and a practical demonstration of how to make a compost heap. A demonstration compost heap was made next to the planned demonstration garden at the primary school.

Another 3x Training Sessions will be completed by the Farmers before the end of the year.