Business skills training for Kruger Park crafters

VISION

Khumbulani Craft's mission is to contribute towards poverty alleviation in rural communities through the production, marketing and sale of traditional and contemporary crafts.

OVERVIEW

Khumbulani Craft currently assists 400 crafters in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal. The Kruger National Park is bordered by 181 rural villages in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, where an estimated 2.5 million people live. There are high levels of poverty and unemployment, as well as a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and few opportunities for income generation in these communities. The Kruger National Park's Department of People and Conservation engages with the communities through organised forums, to explore mutual interests in protecting the area's valuable biodiversity. The Kruger National Park provides local craft co-operatives with shops at the major gates, where they can sell their wares and benefit from accessing a significant tourist market. However, lack of product innovation, poor product conception and low or inconsistent product quality compromises the income-generating potential of these community-based eco-tourism businesses. This project is a partnership between Khumbulani Craft and the Kruger National Park's Department of People and Conservation to provide 60 selected crafters from four craft co-operatives with training that will significantly boost their shops' product offerings and improve their income generation. The co-operatives involved are the Skukuza Alliance at Numbi Gate (51 members), the Skukuza Alliance at Kruger Gate (55 members), the Hlanganani Crafters at Phalaborwa Gate (29 members) and the Hlanganani Crafters at Punda Maria Gate (49 members).

WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

• This project follows an example of good practice in enterprise development by providing job skills and practical business training to an emerging community-based eco-tourism business that has scope to improve its income generation.
• This intervention by Khumbulani Craft will enable the group of crafters to improve their product diversity and address quality and innovation issues, thereby improving the offerings of the co-operatives' shops.
• These skills will enable the crafters to maximise the opportunities they have to engage with a significant tourist market that literally arrives at the doorsteps of their shops.
• The improvement in the income generation of these craft shops will ensure that members of the neighbouring communities derive reasonable benefits from the existence of the Kruger National Park, thereby helping to secure a mutual interest in protecting the biodiversity of this area.

EXPECTED LIFE CHANGE

An investment of R153,300 will enable Khumbulani Craft to conduct a course comprising 40 days of Basic Craft and Business skills training.

• 60 craft workers will attend 20 days of Basic Craft and Business skills training in two sessions, which will include product innovation and diversity, quality control, stock control, craft enterprise, and costing and pricing.
• The remaining 60 members of the four craft co-operatives may benefit indirectly from the increased knowledge and skills in the co-operatives.
• Approximately 480 members of the 60 trained crafters' households may benefit from additional household income as a result of product improvements.
• Direct life change at R320 per person.

This project has breadth, although it does not reach all members of the co-operatives. It has reasonable depth, intensity and permanence in that it has the potential to impact positively on the vocational, economic and psychological aspects of the beneficiaries' lives.

NEED

The rural villages bordering the Kruger National Park experience high levels of poverty and unemployment, as well as a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and limited opportunities for formal employment. The Kruger National Park's Department of People and Conservation has helped to organise local crafters and artists into co-operatives and has provided them with capacity-building training, as well as shop venues at various gates to the park. These facilities consist of a shop front, workshop space and storeroom. However, the lack of product innovation and diversity, as well as inconsistent product quality, compromises the income-generating potential of these shops, resulting in low monthly income for the crafters. In essence, although their shops are ideally situated, the craft co-operatives remain marginal in relation to the mainstream tourism enjoyed by the Kruger National Park. Crafts need to be improved and upgraded in order to appeal to more of the tourists passing through the park gates.

STRATEGY

Selection of top participants: In consultation with the leadership of each of the four craft co-operatives, the 60 beneficiaries will be selected on the basis of their existing standards of work, their potential to create more innovative products, their proven commitment to, and involvement in, their co-operative, as well as their willingness to pass on the training to at least two other members.

Contribution by the Kruger National Park's Department of People and Conservation: The Department of People and Conservation has undertaken to provide an appropriate training venue within the park, as well as to provide transportation and accommodation for the 60 beneficiaries.

Khumbulani Craft Training: Khumbulani Craft will deliver 20 days of Basic Craft and Business Skills training to the 60 beneficiaries.

ACTION PLAN

Preparation

Khumbulani Craft will liaise with the four craft co-operatives and identify the 60 beneficiaries. Training dates will be agreed upon. The Kruger National Park's Department of People and Conservation will book a suitable venue and arrange transportation for the beneficiaries.

Implementation

Khumbulani Craft will provide 20 days of training to each craft co-operative, including:

Craft Development:

• Design craft – searching for ideas and the identification of markets.
• Craft materials and tools – identifying and selecting appropriate materials and tools for particular craft production.
• Craft production – manipulating raw materials into a given design to produce a craft product.
• Craft briefs – understanding and evaluating client specifications and orders.
• Craft evaluation – evaluating crafts against specifications and practising quality control.

Basic Craft Business:

• Craft production and planning – preparing and organising production sites, controlling production schedules and participating in a production team.
• Stock control.
• Costing and pricing.
• Craft enterprise – operating a craft business, understanding basic business administration and learning presentation techniques.

Monitoring

Khumbulani Craft and the Kruger National Park's Department of People and Conservation will monitor the impact of the training through visits to the beneficiaries over the months following the training. They will receive report-backs on the mentoring process within the co-operatives. New product lines, improved craft quality and greater income generation will be markers of the success of the training.

RISK PROFILE

Key Strengths

• Concept: This is a tried and tested intervention that Khumbulani Craft has used to assist many other craft operations to improve their product diversity, product quality and income generation. The idea of the beneficiaries passing on the training to at least two other members of their co-operatives broadens the benefits of the training and helps to ensure that new skills and learning are spread within the co-operatives.
• Design: The intensive and focused course, supported by follow-up visits, should translate into noticeable product improvements.
• Capability: Khumbulani Craft has responsible leadership in place and proven expertise in their field.
• Control: Khumbulani Craft is a well-established non-profit organisation with sound systems in place for administration and financial control.
• Sustainability: The project encompasses a short, intense intervention aimed at delivering immediate, discernable results in terms of product innovation, diversity and quality. Similar projects have produced these results successfully.

Key Risks

• Concept: Although the training course is known to be effective, there is an inherent risk that not all of the participants will translate the learning experience into product improvements.
• Design: Though intensive, the course remains short and basic, and further interventions may be required to ensure that the co-operatives participate more fully in the eco-tourism of the region.
• Sustainability: Improving and sustaining income generation through the craft shops may require additional interventions.
• External: There is a low risk that selected crafters may drop out, but this is mitigated by the fact that other beneficiaries can be identified and included in the process. There is a risk that participants will not pass on what they have learnt to other members of their co-operatives, thereby diluting the impact of the project.