Essential Oils Project Creates Income for Keiskammahoek Farmers

NEED

Keiskammahoek consists of 40 rural villages situated mainly within a mountainous area. This area is blessed with fertile soil and an abundant supply of water, making it a very viable area for farming. Most of the farms are supplied directly with gravity-fed irrigation. Unfortunately very little use is being made of these facilities.

Major constraints among the farmers at present include a lack of managerial and financial skills, low access to capital, and limited infrastructure. It is clear that assistance is needed in order to increase the effective use of these arable lands.

Many farmers in these rural areas are limited to growing low value crops, such as cabbage, due to a lack of agricultural skills and equipment. These low value crops have a very limited market and are therefore not good crops for generating income. Equipping farmers with the skills and resources to be able to produce rose geranium oil will allow these subsistence farmers to become viable commercial farmers.

OVERVIEW

In order to further their work in the area, the Siyakholwa Development Foundation (SDF) would like to expand on the already existing Rose Geranium Oils Project. To date SDF has assisted in the plantation of 20ha of crops that produce rose geranium oil. The crops are planted on the land of local farmers who are provided with infrastructure and training as part of SDF’s programme.

The SDF Rose Geranium Oil Project is a three step process. The first step would be for the organisation to select the farmers that they would like to assist. They will then provide the infrastructure needed for these farmers to plant rose geranium crops on their land. The next step is the training by of farmers by the SDF on how to care for the crops. Farmers will then grow their crops to a certain height. The final step in the process is the harvesting. The SDF harvests the crops and then pays the individual farmers for the produce collected from their land.

The planting of an additional 25 hectares of rose geranium crops will provide jobs for an additional 57 community members and will also benefit the farmers directly through the income they generate through growing the crops.

WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

• The SDF has an extensive track record of managing similar projects.
• The SDF has built a good relationship with communities and farmers in the area.
• Creating jobs through this project will enable community members to live increasingly sustainable lifestyles.
• The SDF have a far reaching impact on this community that is not limited to the positive effects of this project.

IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS

This project will directly impact the 8 farmers whose land will be utilised for the planting of rose geraniums by providing a more sustainable revenue stream for them. The other direct beneficiaries include the 57 community members who will be employed to manage, install and maintain the crops. The salaries of these direct beneficiaries range from R16 000pm for the project manager to R2 100pm for the harvesting team members.

The indirect beneficiaries include all the families of the direct beneficiaries as well as the community at large. The SDF manages socio-economic development programmes alongside its agricultural projects which enhance the standards of living of the community members in the area.

ORGANISATION ASSESSMENT

The main purpose of the SDF is to provide “on-the-ground” administrative, financial, and project management support as well as agricultural skills training to farmers living in rural areas. They have operated in Keiskammahoek since 1998, were registered in 2001 and commenced business as the SDF in January 2002.

The SDF has been involved in agricultural projects since 2002 and has developed systems and processes that are highly effective in running, managing and maintaining these projects. They have worked closely with the Department of Environmental Affairs as well as well- known organisations such as Unilever and The World Development Bank.

Their track record includes: * The feeding of 200 families through the planting of maize crops in 16 different villages * 100 hectares of land under paprika have been successfully producing crops since 2008. This project has created numerous jobs * A community works programme which focuses on other socio-economic development projects within the community * 20 hectares of rose geraniums have already been planted and successfully harvested

The organisation has managed to acquire all the infrastructure and machinery needed in order to distil the rose geranium oil and have also created marketing channels which will ensure the success of this project.

PROJECT PROFILE

Key Strengths

• Concept: Equipping people with the skills and opportunities to generate their own income works well in rural communities such as Keiskammahoek.
• Design: The current 20 hectares Rose Geranium Oil Project has been highly successful. Therefore expanding on this project is a good way to ensure project success.
• Sustainability: The SDF has ensured that the crops they grow through projects they implement have access to the market, which increases sustainability. It also generates an income for the organisation which increases the SDF’s financial sustainability.

Key Risks - Low

• Capability: Although SDF has extensive experience and has been in existence for almost ten years, not all of their projects have had a 100% success rate.
• Design: At a certain point in each project the SDF will hand the project over entirely to the farmers. The hand over process has not always been successful as it is after the SDF have pulled out that some of the farmers have failed to keep the projects going.
• Control: A large amount of the control of this organisation lies with Brian and Gerri.
• External: As with most agricultural farming projects there are a number of external risks. Crops can fail because of many different factors such as climate and disease.