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LOCAL COMPETITIVENESS FUND

PROJECTS

Limpopo Now Has Its Own Jewellery Making And Business Training Centre

A project to turn Limpopo into a jewellery manufacturing centre has been officially launched, enabling the province to take a lead in
adding value to South Africa's rich store of minerals and metals.

Currently, South Africa manufactures only 2% of the world's jewellery despite the fact that it leads world production in most minerals and metals, most of which are exported in unprocessed form.

Even though Limpopo is a major contributor to South Africa's mining production, virtually no jewellery is manufactured in the province.

The Limpopo Jewellery Cluster (LJC), was officially launched in Polokwane on July 10, by Limpopo MEC for Economic.


Ishmael Mmbadi, SEDA Regional Project Officer: Incubation;
Vukani Ubuntu founder Demos Takoulas; and African Romance CEO Mohseen Moosa.

The Limpopo Jewellery Cluster (LJC), was officially launched in Polokwane on July 10, by Limpopo MEC for Economic Development, Pitsi Moloto, and MEC for Local Government and Housing, Soviet Lekganyane. It has been developed with support of a R7 million grant from the Local Competitiveness Fund of the Limpopo Local Economic Development (LED) Programme. A further R1,5 million has been contributed by the State-owned Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA). The remaining budget of R2.2 million has been provided by Vukani Ubuntu Community Development Projects which is driving the project.

Vukani has already established nine community-based centres in five provinces where 1 000 jewellers from previously disadvantaged communities have been trained, most of whom are now working in the jewellery industry.

The LJC has been established in the form of an incubator within the refurbished Zurel Bros diamond cutting and polishing factory in Polokwane.

Funding from the Limpopo LED Programme has enabled Vukani Ubuntu to establish complete infrastructure for jewellery design and manufacturing training as well as capacity building in the form of business and marketing skills training.

An initial 20 young men and women, including five deaf people, are undertaking an 18-month course enabling them to obtain Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) Level 3 certificates.

This is a basic qualification enabling them to do bench work in a jewellery manufacturing operation. They will need an MQA Level 4 certificate to become qualified jewellery manufacturers.

Another 15 young people with qualifications or previous experience in jewellery making are being given the opportunity to improve their design and technical skills and to acquire business and marketing skills to enable them to start their own businesses.

They are being encouraged to form partnerships or co-operatives in which groups combine complementary skills to make themselves more sustainable and competitive. Each group has a private work area in which it can make its own products and seek advice to improve its skills.


Charles Mapetho plays a vital
role in the Limpopo Jewellery Cluster
as the interpreter for five deaf people
among the 20 trainees.

Business and marketing skills training is being funded by SEDA through the SEDA Limpopo Jewellery Incubator (SLJI) situated within the complex.


Limpopo Jewellery Cluster
production manager Theo du Plessis
introduces the first 20 trainees to the
tools of the trade in jewellery making.
As a goldsmith with 30 years of
experience in jewellery design and
manufacturing, Du Plessis brings a
wealth of experience to the Cluster
together with great enthusiasm.


Jewellery Training


JewelleryTraining

A key market being targeted by the Cluster is the growing Fair Trade market which gives accredited producers in developing countries access to markets in the developed world. Buyers in this market are known as "ethical consumers" because they are prepared to pay higher prices for products in order to ensure that producers in developing countries receive a fair reward for their labours. The so-called "social premium" is paid back to producers, enabling them to become more competitive, to build sustainable enterprises and livelihoods, and to contribute to community development.

Vukani Ubuntu founder Demos Takoulas believes the LJC and SLJI have laid all the foundations required to meet the principal objective of the Limpopo LED Programme's support for the project: to increase Limpopo's competitiveness as a mining centre through added value manufacturing and processing of locallyproduced
raw materials.

In addition to the partnership with SEDA, Vukani Ubuntu has made what Takoulas describes as "a major coup" in the form of an alliance with high-end jewellery manufacturing and retailing specialists African Romance which will display and promote jewellery made in the LJC. Based in Sandton, Gauteng, and focused on the international market, African Romance describes itself as "Africa's First International Luxury Diamond And Jewellery Brand".


SEDA Business Development Officer
Peter Thulare who undertakes
business and marketing skills training
through the SEDA Limpopo
Jewellery Incubator.

African Romance is already displaying in its showrooms jewellery made in the LJC and intends to play an increasingly active role in supporting the LJC and its products, according to CEO Mohseen Moosa.

African Romance has also introduced the LJC to a leading British designer, Paul Spurgeon, who will spend time at the LJC and design a jewellery range for the international market. In addition, he will undertake a skills transfer programme.

Another high-end outlet that could open to the LJC is the Fair Trade-related market.



Phokela Mokomo (left) and Mavis Lekwadu are among 15 people in the Limpopo Jewellery Cluster who already have jewellery making qualifications or experience and are receiving special support to start their own businesses. They are being encouraged to form partnerships or co-operatives in which groups combine complementary skills to make themselves more sustainable and competitive. Mokomo and Lekwadu have joined forces with Mabuti Maako to form Goldpot Jewellers. Mokomo undertook a jewellery design and manufacturing course at the National School of Arts in Johannesburg but was unable to complete it. He worked as an apprentice for a jewellery company before joining the Limpopo Jewellery Cluster to gain more experience and start his own business. Lekwadu has national certificates in jewellery manufacturing and assessing. She was a lecturer at a jewellery school before joining the Limpopo Jewellery Cluster. Maako has a qualification in diamond cutting and polishing.

Vukani     Ubuntu    has    registered    the    name
SA FairMade Jewellery to enable centres such as the LJC to sell products on the growing market for products manufactured by marginalised communities and people working within a socio-economic development context.

Fair Trade products are sold at a "social premium" to buyers known as "ethical consumers".

These consumers are prepared to pay a higher price as their contribution to ensuring that producers and manufacturers receive a fair reward for their labours. The premium is paid back to producers, enabling them to become more competitive, to build sustainable enterprises and livelihoods, and to contribute to community development.


An 18 carat White Gold Set of jewellery made in the Limpopo Jewellery Cluster and
which is now on display in the showrooms of African Romance in Sandton, Gauteng.

For more information, please contact:
Demos Takoulas.
Tel: 012 326 8534;         Fax: 012 326 6241;
Cell: 082 772 4623.
E-mail: demos@vukani.org
Website: www.vukani.org


Tomato Growers Buy Their Own Factory And Develop Their Own Brand

Some 2 500 small- and medium-scale Limpopo tomato farmers now have a major stake in a food processing plant that will produce a wide range of products under their own brand name.

The  brand  is     APOL,  which     stands  for Agro-Processors of Limpopo.

Foods such as APOL whole peeled tomatoes and tomato sauce, puree and onion mix will soon be available on supermarket shelves. Plans are also underway to export products.

The venture brings into the mainstream economy marginalised farmers who until now have been confined to selling fresh tomatoes mainly to informal markets.

The venture diversifies tomato production in Limpopo which is dominated by two companies and introduces competition in the value-added tomato processing market in which one holds a near monopoly.

The development is being led by the 2 500-member Limpopo Tomato Growers' Association (LTGA) with support of R48,4 million in grant funding. The Limpopo Local Economic Development (LED) Programme has contributed R7 million from its Local Competitiveness Fund.

The Limpopo Department of Agriculture (LDA) is investing     an     initial    R21,4 million,    of    which
R17 million has already been contributed. In addition, the LDA will contribute a further R20 million to fund a major capacity building programme for LTGA growers who run farms ranging from 5 hectares to 150 hectares in many parts of Limpopo.

The LTGA has used some of the funding to acquire a 51% stake in Neotech Industries, a tomato processing factory in Tzaneen.

The facility is being expanded and will trade under the name APOL Foods which will contract LTGA farmers to supply tomatoes at guaranteed prices and market the processed products.

Two trucks purchased from the grant funding will load up LTGA farmers' tomatoes at various collection points for delivery to the processing factory.

The capacity building programme will be used to train farmers to improve their yields and to acquire essential business skills.

LTGA envisages that training will help farmers to double their production, from 40 to 50 tons of tomatoes per hectare to between 80 and 120 tons/ha.Business skills training is designed to assist farmers to better manage what will hopefully become flourishing enterprises. Dr Ralph Manhire of the Ralman Consulting Group, which is advising the LTGA, estimates that a farmer who produces 80 tons/ha will gross about R96 000/ha from each harvest. Deducting some R33 000 in input costs, the farmer will have a surplus of R63 000/ha.


LTGA adviser Dr Ralph
Manhire with samples of products
produced under the APOL brand
owned by small- to medium-scale
Limpopo tomato farmers.

Limpopo Tomato Growers' Association president Walter Moketla (left) and
APOL human resources and production manager Johan van Wyk

Yields and incomes will, of course, vary from area to area depending on climatic and other conditions.

The ambitious production target is emboldening LTGA to expand the Tzaneen factory. A packhouse is being established to grade, sort and pack tomatoes for fresh produce markets and chain stores.

Processing facilities are being expanded to handle some 500 tons of tomatoes a day against current capacity of only 150 tons/day.

This will be achieved by installing an evaporator to convert 50 tons of tomatoes a day into puree. Installation of another evaporator that will handle up to 300 tons/day is being planned.


APOL factory worker
Phrengelinah Lebepe prepares to
clean tomatoes inside the
APOL factory.

The LTGA estimates that establishment of the packhouse and expansion of the processing facility will create 70 permanent and 80 temporary jobs.

In its application for funding from the Limpopo LED Programme, the LTGA notes that Limpopo produces some 58% of South Africa's tomatoes, with most of this coming from the Mooketsi area where ZZ2 is the dominant grower, and from the northern parts of the province.

Tiger Brands dominates the South African tomato processing industry with a share of more than 75% of the market and with much of its production taking place in Limpopo, according to the World Processing Tomato Council.

The Limpopo LED Programme's support for the LTGA venture is aimed at making Limpopo increasingly competitive not only as a roducer of fresh tomatoes but as a processing centre, with growing numbers of jobs being created
along the entire value chain.

"Currently, black farmers do not have access to developed markets in the first economy and supply their produce to hawkers and other less developed markets where demand and prices are unreliable," says the LTGA. "This introduces great risk to small-scale farmers.


Moketla and APOL factory
manager Hennie Kleinhans.

Part of the failure by small-scale farmers to penetrate developed markets is due to lack of a packhouse to properly grade, sort and pack produceers to penetrate developed markets is due to lack of a packhouse to properly grade, sort and pack produce.

"Lower grade tomatoes are currently wasted, warranting a packhouse and a processing plant. The packing will improve the quality and marketability of higher quality tomatoes for fresh produce markets, and the lower quality tomatoes
will be processed to add value to them."

Estimates of the quantity of tomatoes used by the South African tomato processing industry range from 150 000 to 200 000 tons/year.

If the LTGA achieves its goal of processing 500 tons/day, it would become a serious player in the South African industry and be in a position to export on a significant scale.

The LTGA envisages that guaranteed prices and markets for its members will enable them to expand and develop sustainable enterprises.

It also believes the success of the project will attract other growers and boost its membership to some 5 000. This will in turn boost the LTGA's influence and revenue base, enabling it to become more sustainable.

Moreover, says the LTGA, the model on which the venture is based can be replicated by other emergent groups such as the Limpopo cattle, pig, poultry and fruit producers' associations. This could benefit as many as 10 000 small-scale farmers in the province, says the LTGA.

For more information, please contact:
Dr Ralph Manhire
Tel: 011 783 9915
Cell: 082 755 4639

 


Zebediela Takes Another Big Step

Having been saved from the brink of collapse, Limpopo's flagship Zebediela citrus estate is taking another big step to restore its position as one of the world's great fruit farms. Now owned by the local Bjatlhadi community, Zebediela has teamed up with sister estate Lisbon and an internet-based marketing agency to meet rapidly changing market demands and boost their competitiveness.

Backed by a R2,1 million grant from the Limpopo Local Economic Development (LED)Programme, the two estates are transforming by becoming wholesalers instead of being bulk fruit suppliers to middle-men.

They are re-inventing themselves by planning to install and share specialized packaging equipment; to deliver their fruit in consumer-friendly packs; and to re-brand and promote their products.

They believe their actions will increase the competitiveness of Limpopo's fruit industry by ensuring Zebediela and Lisbon estates' direct access to local and international markets.

The Limpopo LED Programme grant is a contribution to costs of changes to the Zebediela and Lisbon pack houses, new packaging equipment to be shared by the two estates, and marketing and branding of their oranges and mangoes.Evicted from the Zebediela area in the 1920s, the Bjatlhadi community was granted ownership of the famous estate and surrounding areas in 2003 under South Africa's post-apartheid land restitution law.

The community then formed a partnership with Zebediela workers and Limpopo-based commercial farmers, the Boyes Group, to manage and develop the estate. A similar management structure has been introduced at Lisbon involving local communities and workers.

However, falling citrus prices in recent times have been turning Zebediela into a marginal producer. With Lisbon facing similar problems, the community and its partners decided their only solution was to increase margins by adding value in the form of modern, innovative packaging, proper marketing and re-launching the Zebediela and Lisbon brands.

"We have to adapt or die," Zebediela said in its application for Limpopo LED Programme support.Until now, estates like Zebediela and Lisbon have delivered most of their produce in bulk to third parties who re-pack them for sale.

With consumers preferring to buy fruit in handier quantities, the estates aim to meet supermarket demand for smaller, high-value packs of fruit.

Research indicates this is also the preference of municipal market agents, hawkers and small fruit and veg stores.By re-branding and changing packaging, the farms will be effectively changing their focus from selling to wholesalers to becoming their own wholesaler. This will release value from the supply chain directly to the farms in the form of higher returns.It will also increase their market share, turnover and profitability, thus bolstering long-term sustainable production and pricing.

The partners will benefit not only from the estates' greater competitiveness. The estates are also certified by Fairtrade, the international trading organisation which buys from emerging market producers who adhere to certain socially-responsible standards.Products sold by Fairtrade command premium prices from consumers who want to support fair trade practices. The premium is shared by workers and communities on Fairtrade-certified farms.As a partner with Zebediela and Lisbon, internet-based marketing agency FruitOne is a founder member of Fairtrade South Africa and therefore able to facilitate greater market access for the estates.


The partners in Zebediela's operating company:
Lesetja Tlolane, chairman of the Bjatlhadi Communal Property Association which owns the estate, and Frans Ledwaba, vice chairman of the Workers' Trust. Johannes Aphane, chairman of the Workers' Trust, and John Boyes of the Boyes Group.

FruitOne will be responsible for the estatesÕ branding strategies and for co-ordinating their marketing. Zebediela and Lisbon will be able to share new packaging equipment because they produce at different times of the year. By moving equipment between Zebediela and Lisbon, the estates will effectively make use of it for 11 months of the year, leaving one month for relocation and servicing.

Moves In Line With Limpopo Government Strategy

The initiatives being taken by the partners fit in neatly with the Limpopo government's Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS).The provincialgovernment was instrumental in saving Zebediela from the brink of collapse after inheriting the then State-owned estate following South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy in the early 1990s.Zebediela was expropriated from its private owners in 1973 by the apartheid regime which handed over its management to various State agencies. For the next 20 years, the estate made a profit on only three occasions, with mismanagement taking a heavy toll on the estate, exacerbated by drought, labour unrest and floods in the 1990s.

The Limpopo government finally axed Zebediela's management in the late 1990s, leaving the estate in the hands of two caretaker managers. But since then, things have been looking up.The partnership between the Bjatlhadi community -- which took over Zebediela from the State -- workers and the Boyes Group was facilitated by the Limpopo provincial government under the Strategic Partnership model it has developed to ensure sustainability of estates awarded to communities which lack the expertise and resources to maintain farming land.

This has seen the establishment of an operating company in which the Boyes Group holds an initial 55%; the Bjathladi community 30%; and the estate workersÕ trust 15%.

The operating company leases the land from the community. The Boyes Group has a 15-year management contract with an obligation to build capacity among workers, empowering them to play an increasingly important role in the estate's development. The Boyes Group must also reduce its shareholding over time.

In addition to sustaining agriculture, the partnerships meet other PGDS objectives which are being supported by the Limpopo LED Programme. Among them is the imperative for business to add value to production in Limpopo which has traditionally been an exporter of unprocessed primary products such as agricultural produce and minerals.

By cutting out middle-men and delivering fruit directly to supermarkets and other outlets in consumer-friendly packaging marketed under their own brands, Zebediela and Lisbon are adding value at the estates and creating demand for their products. This is making Limpopo businesses more competitive and sustainable, creating greater value for communities, and stimulating local economic development.



Zebediela Workers' Trust vice chairman Frans Ledwaba with the big traditional netted bag of oranges and the new, handier, consumer-friendly small bag that will be marketed under the Zebediela brand. The change in packaging is part of Zebediela's strategy to meet rapidly changing market demands and boost its competitiveness. Sister estate Lisbon is pursuing a similar strategy.

Turning Sewage Sludge Into Organic Fertiliser

Converting hazardous sewage sludge into a safe and competitive organic fertiliser for Limpopo farmers is the ambitious aim of a new Public-Private-Partnership.Now, Pro Organic Agri, a company involved in the partnership with Limpopo municipalities, has been awarded a R667 560 grant from the Limpopo Local Economic Development (LED) Programme to develop, design and construct a demonstration plant to test the process on a small commercial scale.

The company says the accumulation and dumping of sewage sludge in Limpopo's larger cities is not only hazardous, but its use by some farmers as a fertiliser is harmful to the environment. Usage can lead to nitrate pollution of groundwater, heavy metal accumulation in soil, and risks to human health through exposure to pathogens and toxic elements.

Turning the waste into organic fertiliser will givecommercial and emergent farmers in Limpopo a means to enrich soil which is becomingdegraded in many parts of the province, says Pro Organic Agri.

In this way, says the company, Limpopo farmers will become more competitive by being able to meet demand from Europe and elsewhere for organically grown crops.

"The Limpopo Growth and Development Strategy stresses the value-adding approach as a vehicle to raise competitiveness and investment in the province, to combine public and private sector contributions to development, and to align the interventions of various public development institutions for greater impact," says Pro Organic Agri.

"This will enhance the value chain and add value to a waste product which is at this stage is a problem for municipalities.

"With considerable experience in the bio-organic industry, Pro Organic Agri is working with Limpopo's Polokwane, Mokopane and Tzaneen municipalities to develop a process in which sewage sludge and other organic waste products are "enriched with nutrient elements to serve as an organic fertiliser and to eliminate all hazardous components from the sludge in an environmentally acceptable manner".The project involves the universities of Limpopo and Pretoria which will be responsible for capacity building by training postgraduate students to undertake certain work.The University of Limpopo will evaluate the enriched sludge at its experimental farm near Polokwane. The University of Pretoria will also be involved in this process, as well as quality control of chemical analysis and pathological evaluation.Pro Organic Agri says the project will also create opportunities for Limpopo companies involved in transportation, packaging and processing, and marketing.

 


Time To Celebrate

Representing commercial and emergent farmers, Letsitele Citrus Co-operative has good reason to celebrate. Now in its 50th year, Limpopo's oldest citrus packhouse has become the first in the province to secure HACCP accreditation, enabling its 11 commercial and 23 emergent farmer members to export to the European Union (EU).

The co-op has been given a new lease on life through a R2,1 million grant from the EU-funded Limpopo Local Economic Development (LED) Programme which is being implemented by the Department of Local Government & Housing.

The grant has been used to assist the emergent and some commercial farmers to upgrade facilities on their farms to Eurepgap standards required by the EU. It has also enabled the co-op to upgrade its packhouse and to secure HACCP (Health Analysis Critical Control Points) accreditation which is a pre-requisite for export to the EU.


As part of Letsitele Citrus Co-op's upgrading to meet EU export requirements, staff are required to maintain strict hygiene standards.

"We are exceptionally proud of our achievements," said general manager Johan van der Westhuizen as the co-op celebrated its 50th anniversary at a special function in Letsitele near Tzaneen.Upgrading of farmers' facilities and the packhouse has enabled the co-op to export 1,1 million cartons of citrus to the EU. Some 170,000 tons -- or 16% -- was produced by the emergent farmers, a massive increase in their production during the previous season when they delivered only 35 000 cartons.


Celebrating Letsitele Citrus Co-op's 50th anniversary are (right) Willie Muller, chairperson of the co-op, (centre) Lilian Letsoalo, chairperson of the Mariveni Farmers' Co-op which represents 23
emergent farmers, and deputy chairperson Joseph Mohlongo.

Before receiving the Limpopo LED Programme grant, Letistele Co-op had already invested some R800 000 to make improvements to its old packhouse, but even more investment was needed to upgrade the facility to demanding EU standards.

Turning to the Limpopo LED Programme for assistance, Letsitele said in its funding application that "the immense capital expenditure required from us to do the necessary improvements will ruin the members financially if we have to borrow the money".

The Limpopo LED Programme awarded Letsitele Co-op a R2,1 million grant from its Local Competitiveness Fund (LCF), one of three funds through which more than R55 million has already been invested as part of the Programme's objective "to reduce poverty through pro-poor economic growth"


A R2,1 million grant from the Limpopo LED Programme has enabled Letsitele Co-op to construct a roof over its loading area in order to protect packed citrus and meet standards required to export fruit to the EU.

The LCF aims to make business groups more competitive in the priority sectors of Limpopo's Provincial Growth and Development Strategy: agri-business, mining, tourism and manufacturing.

The Programme's Marginalised Community Fund assists poor, rural communities to mobilise their assets and enter the mainstream economy, while the Local Government Support Fund assists municipalities to create conditions conducive to economy growth.



Lillian Letsoalo is one of 22 members of the Mariveni Farmers' Co-op. They have joined forces with commercial farmers to upgrade the Letsitele Co-op packhouse, enabling them to meet EU standards and to open European markets.

Arts, Crafts & Tourism Cluster Launched With Limpopo LED Programme Support.

An ambitious plan to establish a co-operative to assist Limpopo Lowveld artists and crafters to improve and market their products and also attract tourists to the area has been launched with the support of the Limpopo LED Programme.

The European Union-funded Programme has contributed R850 000 to the project. It aims to establish a regional Co-operative Development Centre, three local hub centres, and a village tourism network in the Limpopo Lowveld which is marketed to tourists as the Valley of the Olifants.Known as the Heritage-based Arts, Crafts and Tourism Cluster, the project could benefit as many as 200 pottery and jewellery entrepreneurs, 100 traditional musicians, poets, performers and story-tellers, 15 woodcarvers and basket weavers, 25 tour guides, and 25 village tourism enterprises.

The cluster is being developed in tandem with another project which aims to conserve the musical heritage of communities living in the Limpopo Lowveld. This project is being supported by a R6,4 million sponsorship from the National Lotteries Development Trust Fund.The projects were launched by the Haenertsburg-based Village Tourism Trust and its partners during a function near Tzaneen at the end of June.

In addition to funding from the Limpopo LED Programme, the Arts and Crafts Tourism Cluster is being supported by Mintek, the State-owned minerals research and development agency, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Mopani District Municipality and a number of other provincial departments and agencies, and Afrikania Pottery.

This Phalaborwa-based pottery venture has received a R1 million grant from the Limpopo LED Programme to enable it to open domestic and export markets for its products and to play a greater role in nurturing other arts and crafts businesses in the Limpopo Lowveld.

The Limpopo LED Programme is contributing to development of the arts and crafts cluster project through its Local Competitiveness Fund.


Examples of artworks produced in the Limpopo Lowveld area in which the Limpopo LED Programme is supporting a project to make artists and crafters more competitive and to enhance the region's attractiveness as a tourism destination.

The project is in line with the Limpopo Provincial Growth and Development Strategy which emphasises development in the province of competitive clusters.

By assisting artists and crafters in the local informal economy to become more competitive, the project aims to make it easier for them to gain access to the formal arts and crafts and tourism economies.

The project aims to:

  • Create a community-based institutional framework and to link
    local initiatives and enterprises with first economy institutions
    and markets.
  • Generate job opportunities by stimulating synergy between
    artists, crafters and village tourism entrepreneurs under a
    co-operative structure.
  • Develop markets, set-up marketing strategies and undertake
    product development.
  • Ensure that there is a design element that is current in the art
    and crafts manufactured by crafters and to ensure that the crafts,
    by bringing in the latest trends, will appeal to more developed
    markets.

The project spans the Mopani and Vhembe district municipalities and includes villages within the local municipalities of Greater Giyani, Thulamela, Greater Tzaneen, Ba-Phalaborwa, Maruleng and Greater Letaba.Village Tourism Trust director Michael Gardner explains the project has been launched because "we realised that the craft sector was `drifting'. There was no synergy between crafters; no focussed or sustained marketing of craft products; no guidance regarding product development and especially how craft items should meet changing patterns of demand; no mechanisms to monitor quality and outputs required to meet market requirements".


The project, says Gardner, will enhance the attractivness of the Valley of Olifants as a tourism destination. "We believe there is a need to create a vastly expanded `basket' of creative, varied, fun and innovative products and experiences that will really help to make this a unique destination within the context of Southern Africa."

The planned regional Co-operative Development Centre will aim to market, facilitate, develop and improve competitiveness of artists and crafters in the area. It will assist the craft sector with product development and design, and research on trends in the interior decor industry, with a view to bringing these elements into their design. This will hopefully also assist expansion into new domestic and international markets.

Developers envisage that the Co-operative Development Centre will include an exhibition hall, an indigenous knowledge resource centre, space to showcase cultural industries and enterprise projects, a retail and wholesale sales facility, storerooms, office space, training facilities, a mini-workshop space, a glass recycling plant, dormitory-style accommodation, and an outside entertainment and picnic area.

Development of a Village Tourism Network is also envisaged. This will be based on accommodation in villages where cultural tourism has already reached an advanced state of development.The initiative will be driven by a Cluster Development Agency.
Arts, crafts and tourism projects which participate in the venture will be expected to donate part of their profits into a fund that will partially sustain the agency.

For more information, please contact:
Michael Gardner: Village Tourism Trust.
Tel: +27 (0)15 276-4807
Cell: +27 (0)83 255 9448
E-mail: vavasour@mweb.co.za



Present at the launch of Village Tourism Trust's cultural heritage projects were: (from left) Mishack Mulaudzi, Limpopo Department
of Sport, Arts and Culture; Maurice Stander, vice chairman of the Haenertsburg Development Foundation; Sheila Mafereka from the Development Bank of Southern Africa; and Tim Wilkinson, Team Leader of the Limpopo Local Economic Development (LED) Programme.

Expanding Grape Production In Lephalale


A combination of the strong rand and fragmentation of individual farmers in the Lephalale area has undermined the competitiveness of table grape production in the Waterberg. African Rural Development, in partnership with four farms in the area, has received R850,000 to undertake a market research study to look at ways to improve the competitiveness of the farms for exporting while also integrating emerging farmers in the surrounding areas into a more coordinated production area.



Developing Limpopo's Wild Game Industry


Together with Waterberg District Municipality and Ecosystems, Afrivet Business Management has received a R800,000 grant to look into the development of the wild game industry in Limpopo. This is a fast growing market, both domestically and internationally. For instance, world demand for venison is 50,000 tons annually of which South Africa only supplies 2,000 tons. This study will look at ways to consolidate this industry and improve its competitiveness in order to take advantage of this lucrative market.



Developing Neutriceuticals in Limpopo


Goldex 35 Pty has been awarded a R711,524 contract to look into the feasibility of developing a competitive production and processing industry for neutriceuticals in Sekhukhune. Neutriceuticals are medicinal plants and herbs which are made available to the wider public through pharmaceutical methods, such as pills. Not only does Limpopo have ideal climatic and soil conditions for this extremely lucrative market, but growing cash crops from which products are derived offers opportunities for income generation and market access for small scale farmers.



A Marble Hall Horticulture Cluster

Greater Marble Hall Municipality, together with the Citrus Growers Association, Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Elandskraal Irrigation Scheme, has received R405 280 to explore the feasibility of setting up a horticulture cluster in this area. A study will assess how to enhance the competitiveness of this Provincial Growth and Development Strategy sector by looking at value adding opportunities, creation of a logistics hub and skills development of emerging farmers.