SaveAct provided training to Biowatch facilitators to enable them to introduce SaveAct’s savings methodology to farmers they work with. Biowatch tried the methodology with one group, who then got remote support from SaveAct and their own facilitator during the Covid period. Participants responded very positively to this opportunity. It resulted in high demand for training of further savings groups.
Of interest to Biowatch and SaveAct is how the savings activity will impact on the members’ wellbeing, as well as their pursuit of agroecology and their livelihoods over time.
On the flipside, SaveAct has been keen to embrace agroecology and introduce it into its savings program. In recent years SaveAct has aligned itself with agroecology, a global movement that has climate mitigation and changing food systems as two of its main pillars. Biowatch South Africa describes agroecology as “a holistic science, a practice, and a movement with a bottom-up approach to creating just, ecologically sustainable and viable food systems. Agroecology works in harmony with nature and ecosystems, and builds on local cultures with their unique expressions of knowledge and practice that have developed over millennia around the world.”
This farming practice appeals to SaveAct as it values and enhances the natural assets such as the soils and makes use of household waste to produce nutritious food accessible to families facing issues of malnutrition and even stunting. Stunting, according to the World Health Organisation, refers to a child who is too short for his or her age and is the result of chronic or recurrent malnutrition. Stunting is a contributing risk factor to child mortality and is also a marker of inequalities in human development. Stunted children fail to reach their physical and cognitive potential. Parts of South Africa have a stunting rate of 20%, an unacceptable situation in a country with significant resources to tackle poverty.
Two representatives from SaveAct recently attended a Biowatch week-long agroecology course known as Qalisa. It was hosted at their field demonstration site near Mtubatuba in northern Kwa-Zulu Natal.
The start-up training is designed to help someone start their agroecology journey. “It starts from your zoning, your layout, your water, the type of beds you’re going to have, what you need to incorporate in your production system to conserve water, to improve soil fertility, how you manage your pests, how you bring in other ecosystem creatures into your production system, and how to manage plants and diseases”, explained Nonjeke-Dlanjwa of SaveAct.
SaveAct used to provide technical support to farmers around access to inputs and to some extent, even advised them on how to use fertilizers and pesticides. With the negative impact of these farming practices SaveAct has moved away from these methods towards those that value and preserve the natural resources and improve the quality of the soils. SaveAct also provides enterprise support, and promotes agroecology with entrepreneurs.
The practical aspects of agroecology gardening, such as layout, water conservation, and pest management, are important. A useful way forward that SaveAct is moving into is reaching out to savings members, and integrating food security issues alongside financial education. “I think content-wise, we were lucky to have attended the Biowatch course”, Nonjeke-Dlanjwa said.
Going forward, SaveAct will introduce these methods to savings group members using demonstration sites at village level, with members moving to prepare their gardens for the planting season. SaveAct will develop tools to monitor uptake and results. This is an important area of focus in the recently started WAYSE 2 project funded by the Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropies.