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Indicators from greater eThekwini on the benefits of a transdisciplinary,

agroforestry approach to ensure community involvement in the sustainable management of plantation forestry in South Africa1.

Michael Underwood, Rory Mack

Chairperson: South African Network for Agroforestry Training (SANAFT), Private Bag X 01, Scottsville 3209, underwd@mweb.co.za & Mack & Associates, Merrivale, rory.mack@telkomsa.net

Abstract The transfer of commercial forestland to community control as a result of the land reform and

Forest Charter process has raised concerns as to the sustainability future fibre and

roundwood supplies. With the merger of forestry, agriculture and fisheries into the Ministry of

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (AFF) in 2009, a transdisciplinary approach to land use is

currently being mooted as a solution to these problems, one focusing upon the principles and

process of agroforestry.

This paper evaluates agroforestry systems based upon procedures and results of a four-year

programme commissioned by the eThekwini Rural Area Based Management Programme on

the development of Semi-Commercial Woodlot and Fruit Tree Cooperatives, the current

phase of which was completed in 2008. Data and supporting text are presented which

indicate the procedures, outcomes and challenges experienced during the establishment of

the initiative and presents practical recommendations for further evaluation and development.

The role of a transdisciplinary agroforestry approach is highlighted and how best it could be

incorporated into the training for foresters so that they are well able to implement the potential

new economic models being considered to address changes in land tenure. In conclusion, the

results and recommendations for the adoption of agroforestry are stressed as being critical for

obtaining the successful co-operation of communities, and Small, Medium and Micro

Enterprise (SMMEs) with large-scale end-users and so ensure a sustainable supply of timber.

1 Presented at the 4th Scientific South African Forestry Symposium, 3-4 August, 2010, Hilton College, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

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1.0 Introduction The Billion Tree Campaign launched at the Climate Convention by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) at the World Agroforestry Centre in 2006 proved to be a great success and within 18 months the initiative have resulted in over two billion seedlings being planted worldwide. By the Copenhagen Conference in 2009 this figure had reached an estimated 7 million.2 As a contribution to this initiative, the then South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, broke away from its previous and subsequent format which focused mainly on the promotion of an indigenous “Tree of the Year” and focused in 2007 upon a food security centred approach: “Plant a Million trees a Year – Information on Fruit trees. Despite these initiatives and the acknowledgment as to the benefit of tree growing as a solution to the reduction of emissions, forestry has failed to seize the opportunity and become the solution to so many socio-economic woes to which it is well positioned to challenge and resolve. At the 1ST Global Workshop On Improving Forestry Education organised under the auspices of The International Partnership for Forestry Education (IPFE) hosted by The World Agroforestry Centre (WAC) Nairobi, Kenya September 2007-10-01. The general consensus from the papers, discussions and three days of synthesis was:

1. That forestry is an important discipline but one which is neither

fashionable nor valued by the global constituency.

2. Of particular cause for alarm in the cessation at the end of 2006 on the FAO Educational Programme brought about by financial cutbacks. This has lead to increased interest in the IPFE that is chaired by Hosny El Lakany from the University of British Columbia, who had until the end of 2006 headed up the forestry sector on the FAO.

3. Mirrored to the lack of prestige experienced by forestry was the great

need for a full-time public relations official to promote subject awareness, raise funds and attract students (as at the University of Stellenbosch, who at the start of 2007 had 27 1st Year Students the highest number ever).

4. Another method of gaining students favoured by East African Universities

was the enrolment of “private students” those whose parents are prepared to pay the full costs of tuition, as opposed to those who enter on merit.

5. Interestingly from the South African perspective, the private sector plays

little role in promoting forest education. This may be because there is

2 Agroforestry for food security and healthy ecosystems, World Agroforestry Centre Annual Report 2007 - 2008

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virtually no private sector in Africa, although the Forestry Department of Kenya has in the past month been privatised along the lines of SAFCOL and there are flourishing tourist industries that rely upon the scenic resources of the land to attract Euro-Dollars.

6. Another approach to raising the profile of forestry is through stressing its

role in Carbon Sequestration and Bio fuels which where formally studied as the carbon cycle and fuelwood. Other bio-fuels were generally considered to be a waste of research time as the amount of energy used in their production is less than there value as energy and in addition, valuable areas of land are lost to food production.

7. This opened up a debate around the issue of carbon credits, the

movement of financial institutions into the carbon credit market and the new role that such transactions can play in financing The South. Currently this is estimated to be $ 26 b and by 2012 >$ 100b. However this argument was tempered by the revelation that where afforestation, particularly in China, was on the increase this positive tenant was over shadowed by the increased deforestation in The South. This indicated that while reforesting its own lands the North was doing so at the expense of the South, as well as reducing its capacity to sell carbon credits on the market.

8. Other issues included broadening the scope of forestry to include all form

of tree and associated Non-Timber Forest Products, the role of fruit trees both conventional and indigenous in the role of food security, bio-diversity and the broader social issues of gender and HIV/AIDS awareness. These later issues were considered not so much as socio- political double-speak but for their important socio-economic impacts. They relate to the change in household head from male to female and now in South Africa, to older sibling. The impact this has on a reverse cash economy to subsistence one which in rural areas increased the demands on fragile forest and wildlife resources, as well as a possible increase in urban drift. It also highlighted the importance of fruits as a source of nutrition and in ameliorating the impact of both HIV and ARVs in urban environments where access to fresh produce is often very restricted.

9. However the most salient point was that of the differing perceptions

between the North and South as to the importance of forestry. In the North forestry relates more to a product, or possibly recreational resources, which combine with many others to form a composite of the whole livelihood strategy. Conversely in the South, forests are equated with a major concomitant of sustainable livelihoods. Thus in Kenya, more trees are grown on farms than in forests.

The overall conclusion from the workshop was that change and flexibility are very much the future for forestry, with modules on social issues, including policy awareness, as well as the development entrepreneurial skills being high on the list of syllabi agendas. This move to post harvest activities also stressed

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transdiciplinary approaches to learning specifically in areas of Natural Resources Management and Food Security, the later being particularly prominent in speakers’ rhetoric. 2.0 Traditional Perspective

In South Africa, as globally, early curricula and the supporting syllabi provided by tertiary institutes of education for in forestry, agriculture and other NRMS (Natural Resources Management Sciences) reflected a “Eurocentric” approach. They focused upon the “hard sciences”, which in forestry included the natural sciences of mathematics, physics and chemistry, as well as biology, soil science, law and business management, which were taught in parallel with the forest sciences of silviculture, forest management, forest economics, and forest engineering. Wood-technology formed an important though separate course during this phase. In addition, some time was allocated to forest ecology, while at the diploma level more focus was given to practical subjects such as chain-saw and transport maintenance, compartment estimation, road construction, conservation practices, environmental and labour law. It was during this period that foresters perceived themselves to be in control of forests, rather than managing them according to society’s needs (Luckert 2006). In agriculture, both in crop and livestock production the patterns there were similar, underpinning programmes such as the "Green Revolution" which provided a period of grace in which to sort out larger problems, notably runaway population growth and the grossly inequitable distribution of land and food (Johnson 1986). More recently this process has accelerated with the introduction of GM (genetically modified) foods. 2.1 The South African Forest Industry – the Classic Forestry Model The forest industry of South Africa is an excellent example of how the classical industry can be addressed through syllabi for the basis of a successful “agro-commercial industry”. Thus in 2006, forestry contributed in excess of US$ 2.2 billion to the South African economy, about 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), generating US$ 1.0 billion in foreign exchange and provided employment for an estimated 170 000 people (Department of Water Affairs and Forestry 2007a). Despite these advances in forestry and agriculture, by the late 1990s there was a decline in the number of course enrolments in Africa, as well as Europe and the United States (Luckert 2006, Hansen et. el 2007). This malaise reflected the disquiet amongst potential graduates as to the relevance of a predominantly “hard science” core approach in these disciplines and reflects the wisdom that:

. curricula are, or should be an institutional response to the demands of society. It is one of the few occurrences where practice can pre-empt theory, (Lawton 1983).

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Figure 1: Recent Variations in Forestry Enrolment Patterns in South Africa (D Längin 2008) Verification of this persuasion Figure 1 shows the trends in graduation at the two of the oldest tertiary institutes producing forestry graduates. The Nelson Mandela Metropole University (NMMU), which reflects the demand for forest technicians and the University of Stellenbosch (US), which provides forest scientists. The general decline in graduation reflects the general disquiet amongst potential forest applicants that was being expressed in the latter years of the 20th Century. In contrast the upward movement from 2003 is a response to new curricula being offered and in the case of forest technology the availability of funding for PDIs (Previously Disadvantaged Individuals) to promote small emerging growers and business to replace the former “in-house” structures provided by the large corporate forestry concerns (Underwood, et. el. 2008).

3.0 New Directions

With Changes in government policy and the global stress upon the demands of the needy enshrined in the Millennium Goals (MDG) there has been a global decline in demand for dominantly hard science based forestry courses. Subsequently, with the introduction of new broader based syllabi there has been an overall increase in enrolments. Student numbers have swelled in programmes focusing on environmental issues such as waste disposal and global warming and courses offering community and entrepreneurial skills which are related to the small emerging growers and the SMMEs (Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises).

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1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

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Stellenbosch, BSc Forestry NMMU, National Diploma Venda, B.Sc. (For) Fort Cox, Diploma

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The movements in syllabi have not been spontaneous; rather they have gained momentum over the latter quarter of the 20th Centaury with the links for more flexible, radical, all embracing approaches. These included:

The formation of the International Council for Agroforestry in

1978, Permaculture 19783 ICARA 1981 The United States: Food Security Act, or 1985 farm bill, which

initiated research into low input systems of agriculture (LISA). Land Care, 1986, Victoria Australia.

Collectively these initiatives are programmes that have resulted in the streamlining of traditional forest curricula through the removal of out-date components and course replications and the inclusion of social, logistical and environmental modules. They also place greater emphasis upon business management and entrepreneurial skills development (Underwood 2007). How tertiary institutions of learning arrange their syllabi in response to the changes and challenges of new curricula is reflected in programmes of research and formalised courses of learning. Each component of the syllabi is further sub-divided into modules, and credits that are calculated upon nominal hours of contact and study. The crucial perceptual base to an effective use of tertiary education then is to acknowledge that the curricula is “a voice of the people”, a response to society, to the needs of the market place. Further, that such demands are dynamic, they will change. Whereas it is true to agree that an academic “must publish or perish”, it is equally true to acknowledge that education institutes must constantly evolve or decline into obscurity. What is also true is that academic and therefore tertiary institutions with the increase in knowledge overload through the medium of Information Technology (IT) have brought about a state where the elite of these organisations are “no longer the custodians of knowledge, rather facilitators to its access,” (Muir-Lerescher 2004). How best to respond to these problems is a dynamic people centre Agriculture Research for Development (ARD) approach, of which two are outlines below that the forestry industry forestry should embrace:

Scenario # One a case study of current land use management and demonstrates how diverse are the community demands on foresters and how with the right forethought current practices can complete the circle of knowledge and communities can themselves, influence policy – this is important for Forestry Technicians engaging with communities.

Scenario # Two addresses the importance of policy related studies and outlines the tasks foresters and other land users need to embrace – section it is particularly, though not exclusively related to Managers.

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3.1 Scenario # One, Practical Issues that Forestry Technicians Need to Address when engaging with Small Micro, & Medium Forestry Enterprises. Experiences from the Ethekwini Semi-Commercail Woodlots and Fruit tree Co-operative Programme.

Apart from technical knowledge foresters need people skills and an understanding of current national and international policies & strategies. During the May 2008 AU – NEPAD Meeting, one particularly type of land use management, the peri-urban areas surrounding expanding urban centres was identified as an area of concern.4. These areas are a growing challenge in sub-Saharan Africa where the urban (peri-urban) growth rate is expected to rise to 3.5 percent per annum over the next 15 years (UNEP, 20025). With such high levels of predicted expansion, obtaining information and a better understanding of both peri-urban and their immediate rural fringe becomes ever important as density of population swell outwards from city centres and space become diminishing commodity. It is therefore vital to expand the concept of a fragmented marginal housing, considered as peri-urban, to a more seamless continuance into the surrounding peri-rural areas. Areas will, in the short and certainly medium term, metamorphose from exhibiting the characteristics of agricultural and forest land to first a patchwork and later as the premiums for space increase into and urban blanket.

The eThekwini (Durban) Rural Based Area Management Plan (RBAMP) 2005- 8

The pre-feasibility study drew information from various sources directly involved in forestry and fruit trees. The pre-feasibility study indicates forestry potential in the greater Qadi and Makhanya Sobonakhona tribal authorities. Use was made of the recently developed DWAF afforestation potential map in locating sites approved. In eThekwini two potential areas for afforestation were identified. In the south, according to present regulations, there is 73 ha available and in the north there is 396 ha however, there are water limitations in the sites identified in the north. There is a greater potential than this however the sites outside of these areas will be subjected to a rigorous water license application process. The data collected indicate that both fruit trees (peaches, mangos, oranges and avocados) and forestry (wattle and eucalyptus) are well suited to the area and are commonly grown among the local communities. The biophysical conditions were favourable to all types of tree farming but the concern was raised relating to the need to rehabilitate many of the existing woodlots and road infrastructure.

4AU-NEPAD Food and Nutrition Security Workshop To Accelerate Investment in Response to High Food Prices and

Resulting Food Insecurity, Pretoria, 20-30, May, 2008 14 UNDP (United Nations Environmental Programme, 2002. renewable energy assessment: Energy technologies: Potential for Africa. UNDP, Nairobi.

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3.2 Needs Analysis Assumptions Assumption 1: The harvesting of timber of eucalyptus from woodlots for the production of pulp and paper fiber has been a source of income for several decades in the area. Support for the small emerging grower has come from SAPPI and their agents the Lima Rural Development Foundation, during the mid 1980s and throughout the 1990s. Currently, SAPPI remains committed to the programme, though unscrupulous local contractors harvest much of the timber. These small, private outfits offer prices well below the market value for timber and so seriously discourage growers. Often, the contractors leave felled timber to rot in the fields so that it cannot be sold. Other dubious practices are to demand exorbitant sums for the extraction and transportation of the felled timber while paying the grower well below its market value. This is a common complaint elsewhere in South Africa and has also been reported in Zimbabwe (Allied Timber, per. com. 2008). . Assumption 2: Fruit, has not been a traditional focus of community forestry as it has been considered a marginal activity, often outside the scope of forestry and relegated to agricultural portfolios. However, work by Underwood in the early 1990s indicated that fruit, even at minimal levels of intervention is common practice. Assumption 3: Since the issues of hunger, poverty alleviation, health and education have come to the fore, through the Millennium Development Goals, AsgiSA, and many other initiatives and research programmes, small scale fruit tree production has become the focus of considerable attention. The World Agroforestry Centre/ICRAF has a programme based in Malawi identifying “fruit tree envelope” (Fig 5). Similarly, at the local level, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry under Minister Hendricks has a special initiative during the Arbor and Arbor Week programme to support low

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Figure 2: “Fruit Tree Envelope6 cost housing and the rural resource-poor by dispensing fruit trees along side its more traditional indigenous “Tree of the Year” initiative (M Modise: DWAF, per.com. 2008) 3.3 Implementation plan The Woodlots & Fruit Tree, Co-Operative Support and Monitoring Proposal follows up on the 2007 phase of implementation7 during which six co-operatives were initially established with a total of 188 members. The number of members has subsequently increased to a total of 259 members. In addition there have been approaches from other areas for the formation of additional co-operatives however a decision was taken to focus on the 6 co-operatives during this initial phase. These entities have now been registered and a level of training provided to the committees at the time of registration. What was ascertained during this process was that many of those who had received the original training were no longer actively involved in the co-operatives activities and that other family members had taken over. It is likely that in this peri-urban environment where family members are continually seeking employment that there will be a high turnover of family representatives in the co-operatives. Representatives will often be the young who have finished school but not yet secured employment and the elderly who no longer work. 3.4 People Centred Training The RBAMP has over the past year issued 50 participating households with a variety of fruit trees. An NGO, Lima has assisted with the distribution of these trees and provided training on their planting and the RBAMP provided fire training to selected co-op members during the course of the year. A total of eight fire protection units will therefore be required to cover the six co-op areas. It is proposed that the following fire equipment be provided to each fire protection unit. In many instances family members who arrived for fire training were not the listed co-op. After detailed analysis the study concludes that both farm and off-farm incomes are equally important for the rural livelihood. A very small proportion of the respondents rely on the farm as a source of income. Household economic activities as a whole are much more important than farm activity alone for these rural households. This is mainly because diversity in income sources is the major characteristics of rural households (Perret, 2001). Most of the households are relatively low-income families that earn less than R1000 per month. The majority of the households used their land for grazing purposes before the eucalyptus tree planted. There was high positive correlation between the property size, owned by households and the land allotted for eucalyptus

66 Trees for Change, (2005) World Agroforestry Centre/International Centre for Research in Agroforestry 7 The eThekwini Agri-Business Plan: Semi-Commercial Woodlots Project.

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plantation by the household. Households gained information on some of the management practices such as land preparation and tree planting. However, information on some important practices such as fire control and weeding was not enough. The training need that reflected by the majority of the households also might suggest the information and training on fire control was not enough. 3.5 The Importance of Peri-urban/ Peri-rural Location Combined farm and off-farm income is the most productive form of wealth creation and the very substantial contribution from off-farm (54%) indicates the importance of the nearby Durban Metropole. It also accounts for the demographics found in farming based areas where most of the permanent residents are children, women and old people. However, the peri-urban/peri-rural character of the project area population has an interesting departure from the truly rural community as many residents commute daily to Durban or return for the weekend. This demographic pattern differs from the truly rural situation, where commuting populations are replaced by distinctly seasonal if not annual movements. A second indicator of the nearby urban influence of land use is revealed in Fig 6. This indicates that maize, a traditional rural staple is not a main focus of farming, rather that maize combined with vegetables and or timber is the preferred choice. The inclusion of vegetables and timber is a further indication of the peri-urban/peri-rural a pattern which has long been recognized by planners8 –see insert below:

8Thunen J.H. von, 1996. Isolated State: an English edition of Der isolierte Staats, translated by C M Watenberg and Edited by P G Hall. Oxford and New York, Pergamon. (First German edition

1826).

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Fig 3: The cost of transporting timber is a major factor in forest location, due to its bulk, while the perishable threat to vegetable of long journeys ensures that market gardens, likewise place high value of land, i.e. peri-urban/peri-rural sites near urban markets.9 4.1 Scenario # Two (for Forest Managers) addressing the broader management issues which arise at national level: Current Forest Policy Issues At the strategic level, the issues of privatization have also brought about new policies and curricula realignment. Initial privatization of forestry took place in 1993 with the establishment of the South African Forestry Company (SAFCOL). Subsequently the majority of these assets were disposed of to preferred bidders which were agglomerates of current forest operators, black business, state bodies, organised labour and the immediate community (ies). This new initiative was subject to the policy of equitable distribution of resources an enacted in terms of the National Forest Act (No 84 of 1998). Thus in March 1999 the Government announced that it would dispose of 332 000 ha of land and other assets valued at between R 1bn and R 1.5bn. In effect the forestry rights were being sold not the land and this “privatization” consumed much of the human resource base of DWAF. As a part of this process of privatization, the Act provided principles and management structures to

enable all forests to be managed in a more sustainable and equitable manner. However this initial privatization did not address the needs of the local communities who became further marginalised as a result of the sale of forest resources, loss of jobs through down sizing and outsourcing which further marginalised workers by depriving them of acceptable livelihoods and working conditions which included the loss of housing, roads and schools, to already well resourced companies and individuals

9 Thunen J.H. von, 1996. Isolated State: an English edition of Der isolierte Staats, translated by C M Watenberg and Edited by P G Hall. Oxford and New York, Pergamon. (First German

edition 1826).

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Figure 4: General Pattern of Wealth Distribution After the Privatization of State Owned Forests 2002. In response to adopting a broader vision the government initiated. The Transformation Charter for the Forest Sector, launched in 2007, to be promulgated in 2009 will be supported by the broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act, 2003 (Act No 53 of 2003), National Forest Act, 1998 (Act No 84 of 1998) & the National Water Act, 1998 (Act No 36 of 1998) to ensure that the procurement, sale, licensing and other authorisations are applied to advance BBBEE10. Partnerships between government and the private sector are a structured collaboration for the sustainable achievement sustainable BBBEE programmes. This initiative is one of a number of proposed such partnerships or sector charters which the dti (Department of Trade & Industry) have identified to ensure that the success of BBBEE initiative. Other sector charters are being undertaken in liquid fuels, mining, tourism, ICT, agriculture and the financial sector. Four lead sectors for immediate implementation under the dti: National Industrial Policy Framework and Industrial Policy Action Plan (2007) are:

Capital/transport equipment & down stream metals, Automotives & components Chemicals, plastics and pharmaceutical Forestry, pulp and paper, and furniture.

Others will follow in order to maintain the momentum on ASGISA, (Accelerated & Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa, with support from the JIPSA (Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition). 4.2 Current Impact of Forest Charter The forest sector is one of the key drivers of rural and economic development as identified by government. While it may contribute about 1% to the GDP, it remains an important role player on the following basis: A net foreign exchange earning to the tune of R2.4 billion;

10 Launch of the Forest Sector Transformation Charter: Speech by Mrs LB Hendricks, Minister of Water Affairs & Forestry, Kopanong Conference Centre, Benoni, Gauteng, 25 June 2005

Consortium’s Shareholding

Former commercial company share: 65% BEE Holdings 10% National Empowerment Fund 10% Government Finance Structures 10% Labour 05%

sourced from DWAF 2002

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Generates employment for more than 170 000 of which 63% are in the rural forestry sub-sector;

Supports local economic development on enterprise development (excess of R62 million pa), corporate social investment (excess of R60 million pa), infrastructure development (excess of R250 million pa), BBBEE (excess of R2 billion to date), and skills development (excess of R56 million pa);

A major contributor to sustainable development with 80% of forestry assets certified under FSC costing in excess of R55 million annually.

A sustainable forest sector therefore remains a key catalyst and contributor in addressing development challenges including rural and economic development, poverty alleviation, employment creation, skills development and transformation. To this end, government has developed a number of strategic instruments including the forest sector BBBEE charter, forest sector 2030 roadmap, national industrial development policy framework and action plan, accelerated and shared growth initiative foe South Africa and land reform, all aimed at: Promoting equitable access, development and transformation in the sector; Enhancing competitiveness and sustainability of the sector; Improving integrated and strategic planning to support the sector.

In order to implement the strategic instruments, the government has pledged to

partner with the private sector amongst others to:

Increase and growth the sector by an annual and minimum of 10 000 hectares

net in the next ten years;

Provide leadership and support in negotiating and achieving sustainable

solutions linked to achieving development goals including job creation,

transformation and poverty alleviation;

Address equitable access and participation of previously disadvantaged mainly

through the charter and land reform;

Promote and increase participation of black entrepreneurs, and small and

medium forest enterprises (SMFE) throughout value chain by providing

business oriented support including finance and skills.

4.3 Forest sector growth and development opportunities The democratic dispensation ushered new opportunities for transforming and growing the sector through which the participation and value of SMFE can be enhanced and improved. To this end, there are two principal and category areas of opportunities particularly for SMFE, and these are economic and governance reforms, and new areas for afforestation. The economic and governance reforms comprises of about three processes: Land reform – an average of ±55% of the current afforested land (1.281

million ha) is under claim by communities, and thus, likely to change hands;

Forest sector charter identifies seven elements where SMFE and/or black economic empowerment (BEE) will benefit including equity (minimum of 25%), preferential procurement (10 – 15% set aside), enterprise development (1% NPAT) and skills development (3% pay roll);

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Restructuring of State forestry assets – the decision has been taken to transfer the remaining category B and C assets (about 65 000 ha) to the rightful owners of land, which are in essence communities.

There are however concerns as to whether timber production and processing interventions will remain viable in the long-term (Centre for Development and Enterprise, 2008)11. Recent reports on land reform challenges facing the agricultural sector are a cause of concern to an extent that threats have been made by the former Land Affairs Minister of expropriating land that is not used for production (The Sunday Times, March 22, 2009). Van Zyl et al. (2008)12 points out that when a land reform programme is accompanied by a range of entitlement and support services and sound governance, rural prosperity and productive farming sector can be achieved. This is where strategic public and private sector partnership becomes useful. Similarly, there are two key new afforestation potential opportunities, and these are (1) green-fields afforestation in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal (about 40 000 ha), Eastern Cape (more than 100 000 ha), Mpumalanga (about 3 000 ha) and Limpopo (about 6070 ha), and (2) conversion of wattle jungle into manageable plantation predominantly in Eastern Cape (about 10 000 ha). The overall new afforestation potential of 160 000 ha will come from rural communities. 4.4 Specific Approaches to Effect a Seamless Transition in Forest Tenure In order to facilitate the process set out in the Forest Charter, the move towards equitable work and business opportunities linked to land reform have created a new dynamism within the forestry industry. Previous corporate management and business skills are running out of “knowledge systems” and it is acknowledged that there is a need to embrace a more disaggregated plantation ownership model and secondly the green-fields forestry expansion present in community owned areas. Further, legislation in the form of the Forestry Charter is set to change the way in which forestry operations across the value- chain deal with business, environment and community issues. Currently, the corporate owned plantations and processing capacities have focused on a management style which has been dependant upon First Economies seeking solely rigorous, scientific methodologies in order to provide rational, reliable and ultimately indefatigable approaches to resolving the problems of development, poverty and inequality. This approach to management though successful on corporate owned plantations has often failed with community centred out-grower programmes where the top-down approach could not understand that there were other pressing needs facing communities and emerging stakeholders. These are issues such as lack of fire protection training and equipment, road infrastructure, no institutional growth and poor communication that have caused promoting companies to lose out on the loans

11 Centre for Development and Enterprise (2008). Land reform in South Africa. CDED, Johannesburg. 12 Van Zyl, J., Van Rooyen, C. J., Kirsten, J.F. and Van Schalkwyk, H.D. (2008). Land reform in South Africa: options to consider for the future. Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development, University of Pretoria, Pretoria.

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and timber that they assisted people to plant. Consequently these programmes have stopped or are not expanding as rapidly as before. To illustrate a way of dealing with the future issues facing the industry the Mondi Group has established a development support agency, Forestry Partners Programme. . The issues to be addressed are the impact of land redistribution on some 40% (100 000 hectares) of the Mondi forest plantations. These areas will need to be supported in order to ensure a sustainable business for the new owners, as well as to maintain the economic status of the processing industry. Thus, plantation management will need to be re-structured. The multiple land use aspect of the land reform properties will be a new issue requiring different skill sets, critical to sustainable business and to address the need for establishment of trust for sustainable relationships with the new owners.

Figure 6: Mondi Forestry Partners Programme The ability to identify needs and to deal with aspirations of new entrants into the forestry industry is critical. Models that then tap into these needs and aspirations must be developed for sustainable forestry practice to endure. To this end Mondi has established a Partners Programme, to assist with a cross section of support needs linked to the new owners of forestry land. 4.5 Need for Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) The people that are to manage, develop policy and support the growth of the forestry industry in the medium to long term require a different mind set and the ability to harness knowledge through an alternative set of basic skills. Curricula in learning institutions require strategic development in recognising the complementary skills required. These can be broadly classified in terms of institutional development, participatory community skills, as well as the technical forestry capability, which will need to be developed in order to equip future forestry enterprise facilitators. In addition to the professional level skills development there is an even larger requirement for training programmes for the entrepreneurs and the broader community involved in various forestry businesses.

Forestry Partners

A. Lease Agreement

B. Mentorship Programme

C. Full Forestry Management

Scheme

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5.0 Agricultural Research for Development: (ARD) -Learning From Communities And Their Impact On Policy & Curricula As a partial result of presentations between 2005 –and 2007 (Underwood 2006 & 2007b) fruit trees were included in the Arbor Day Celebrations in the September of each year. This is part of South Africa’s Plant a million trees initiative and links up the broader global initiative which itself is linked into achieving the MDGs. 5.1 Why a project on fruit trees? Poor people in South Africa live under harsh conditions and have to struggle to obtain sufficient nutrient supplements from their natural resources. Since the year 2000 to date, at least 70% of the South African population migrated to urban areas. A large percentage of these are staying in townships and informal settlements. The rapid increase in urban population in these disadvantaged areas has proceeded with little or no town or environmental planning. This has further dragged people into absolute poverty. Poor people have no money to buy food. They are isolated and cannot access employment opportunities with ease. Poor health renders them susceptible to diseases. Malnutrition or under nutrition is when food intake by people is lacking both in quantity and quality. Nutritional shortage forces the body to burn up protein and other body building nutrients. 5.2 The distribution strategy The Department of Water Affairs & Forestry (DWAF)) will adopt the following approach for the distribution of the trees: Regional offices with the guidance of the National Office will have a mandate to decide where the trees will be distributed and how to distribute them. The task for the department is to distribute million trees during the financial year 07/08. If this figure is divided amongst the nine (09) Provinces, each will receive about 111 000 trees. However the prevailing circumstances and demographics in each province will ultimately determine the numbers of trees received and planted by each province. These circumstances will include capacity to by regions to handle the fruit trees in large number and the ability of nurseries to supply in the current year.

The distribution of the trees will be project based (e.g. partnerships with relevant

municipalities, greening of a particular sections of the Reconstruction & Development

Programme houses etc). This will make it easy to monitor the distribution process and

at the same time making it easy to evaluate the impact of the project. It is also

important to identify areas that can be used as temporary holding facilities for the

trees while distribution is in process. These should be areas with reliable watering

facilities. Use of municipal areas and equipment must be explored for both watering

and temporary storage. DWAF regions that have nurseries must make use of these

facilities. DWAF national office will hold a national meeting with all regions to agree

and influence this distribution strategy further.

As mentioned above, it is absolutely important to forge strategic partnership in order to implement the programme. The existing greening programmes should be used as vehicles to strengthen the partnerships. The current partnership

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programmes include the following at national level: Trees for homes, EduPlant and Arbor Week. Partnership with other government departments and government-owned organizations such as Agriculture, Health, Housing and Local Government, Agricultural Research Council and the SA National Bio-diversity Institute (SANBI) must also be forged. It is important to further extent our partnership to credible NGOs and Community Based Organisations. 5.3 The Future Curricula For Forestry, Agriculture And Nrms

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To provide Africa with graduates for the New Millennium, the training of the new

learners must equip them with the ARD skills, which the market demands. In addition

to the technical forestry skills based upon the “hard sciences”, the social and

environmental skills or “soft sciences skills” must be incorporated into a programme

of forestry education. It is no longer sufficient for forestry graduates to restrict

themselves to the production and harvesting of trees, they must also be aware of and

able to cope with the dynamics of the changing economic, social and environmental

conditions in which they work. In particular they must grapple with:

Profit centred employment and business deadlines.

Planning of forestry programmes in consultation with numerous partner

organisations which impact upon or are affected by forestry from the

environmental, community (social) political and administrative perspectives.

There are also external linkages at the daily level of implementation which

demand co-ordination with other role players outside forestry from

agriculture, health-care, (nutrition and HIV & AIDS), to sanitation and water.

Designers of syllabi must acknowledge that forestry globally, as well as regionally

now responds to policies that go beyond the simple production of timber. A new order

raises concerns on the biophysical, social and political impacts of forestry. They are

championed by non-government organisation such as the Forest Stewardship Council

as well as the state such as in South Africa, with its Forest Sector Transformation

Charter (2008).

5.4 New ARD Demands for Agriculture & Forestry Skills In order to meet the demands of an ever-changing world, new syllabi must produce agriculturalists & foresters with skills for:

Public sector and community joint forest management of forest resources. Forestry and its role in biodiversity and conservation. Forestry as recreation sites. Partnerships for research with private/corporate sector plantation

forestry. Forests as carbon sinks and international implications of trading in

carbon credits. Civil society information delivery relating to forestry. Policy formulation and implementation. Forestry education and training for non-traditional groups.

13 Underwood M 2008, South African Forestry Tertiary Institutions: Progress And Challenges:

Forestry Sector Skills Development Forum From Intention To Action, Department Of Water Affairs And Forestry Industries Education Training Authority, 21- 22 August, Royal Hotel, Durban

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Inter-relationships of forestry with other sectors such as agriculture (Koffa & Nyenka (2007).

5.5 New Perceptions for Syllabi and Module Construction To realise these complex demands, tertiary education institutes need to undergo rigorous revaluations that consider syllabi that address:

A realignment and focus onto a smaller number of hard science subjects. These would include silviculture, forest management at degree level as well as the forest technology, diploma and certificate levels.

An increase in the amount of soft science material focusing upon policy, business/entrepreneurial skills and logistical skills particularly health, welfare and communicatable diseases. This new direction in forestry, mirrored in crop science, and horticulture reflects a post modernism throughout society, the recognition that people must be included in the decision making process.

The design of syllabi that must accommodate the ephemeral nature of current knowledge. “That what is today’s discovery will tomorrow be history.”

Special note needs to be made of the other characteristics which employers around the world value in potential employees. :

o enthusiasm, loyalty, o ability to make and be responsible for decision making, o technical competency

6.0 Concluding Comment In order to achieve the level of thinking demanded by a dynamic curricula process,

tertiary institutes of higher learning must design more imaginative syllabi with a great

emphasis upon, ARD, trans-disciplinary course work and module availability.

These decisions are best produced where governments re-aligning policy to emphasis

the new order and to this end the new national government in South Africa set an

encouraging example when it merged agriculture, forestry and fisheries. It was

therefore heartening to hear the response by a representative of the new Minister of

Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries on the benefits for forestry falling under Agriculture

(SAFM May/June 209):

“Forestry is multi-disciplinary activity and heavily affected by policies,

structures and procedures of many other land use disciplines like agriculture.

Forestry and Agriculture are land-based activities (including peri-urban,)

both focusing on the same goals such as rural communities.……. Forestry

will (therefore) have the opportunity to participate in Agriculture’s Land Care

Programme. There will be a knowledge transfer, for example the agro-

forestry programme includes many practices that require different knowledge

than forestry, crop and livestock only.

Rampedi, 200914

14 Dr Ramepdi, Deputy Director General, Forestry, Department of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries,

Pretoria, South Africa, May 2009

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7. 0 References 15 DEPARTMENT OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY, 2007a: Forest Sector Transformation Charter, First Draft for Presentation to Stakeholders, May 2007, Prepared by the Steering Committee, Launched at the Forest Sector BBBEEE Indaba held on 25 June, 2007a DEPARTMENT OF WATER AFFAIRS & FORESTRY, 2007b: Launch of the Forest Sector Transformation Charter, Speech by Mrs. LB Hendricks, Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Kopanong Conference Centre, Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa, 25th July 2007b HANSEN, N., WARD, S., KHOSLA, R., FENWICK, J., MOORE, B., 2007. What does Undergraduate Enrollment in Soil and Crop Sciences Mean for the Future of Agronomy? Argon. J. 99:1169-1174 (2007). GILBERT, E.H, NORMAN, D.W, AND WINCH, F.E. 1980. Farming Systems Research: A Critical Appraisal (MSU rural Development Paper No. 6). Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. JOHNSTON, R. J., 1986. The Dictionary of Human Geography (2nd. Ed.), Basil Blackwell, Oxford LAWTON, D. 1983. Curriculum Studies and Educational Planning, pub. Edward Arnold, London. LUCKERT, M.K. 2006. Has the Myth of the Omnipotent Forester Become the Reality of the Impotent Forester? Journal of Forestry Vol 104, No. 6. 299 – 306 MALTHUS, T. R., 1970 edn. An Essay on the Principle of Population and a Summary of the Principle of Population, A. Flew. London: Pelican. MOLLISON, W. HOLMGREN, D. 1978, Permaculture One: a perennial agriculture for human settlements, Tagari Publications, Tyalgum, NSW 2484, Australia. MUIR-LERESCHE, K. 2004. Bi-annual meeting of the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE), Lusaka, Zambia. Ocampo, J.A. 2006 The Millennium Development Goals Report 2005, United Nations, New York RAMPEDI, MOSHIBUDI, 2009, Why forestry was moved from Water Affairs to

Agriculture? SA Forestry magazine, May/June 2009. South Africa.

15 Except where referenced as a footnote.

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TEMU A.B, CHAMSHAMA SAO, KUNG’U J, KABOGGOZA J, CHIKAMAI B, & KIWIA A, (eds) 2008, New Perspectives in Forestry Education. Peer reviewed papers presented at the First Global Workshop on Forestry Education, September 2007, ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya. UNDERWOOD M. J. 2006 Non-timber forest products in South Africa: agroforestry, a sustainable livelihoods system for the upliftment of resource-poor communities. Proceedings: Forestry South Africa Conference, 4 & 5 October 2006, Blue Waters Hotel, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. UNDERWOOD M.J. 2007. Forestry Skills Development Forum, Forestry Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Forestry Sector Skills Development Forum Launch, Department Of Water Affairs and Forestry Industries Education Training Authority, Edward Hotel, Durban, South Africa UNDERWOOD M, BLAKEWAY F, KHUMALO P, LANGIN D, LOUW J, & MACK R. 2008 South African Forestry, Integrating the First & Second Economies: A Curriculum Template for African Forestry, in TEMU A.B, CHAMSHAMA SAO, KUNG’U J, KABOGGOZA J, CHIKAMAI B, & KIWIA A, (Eds) 2008, New Perspectives in Forestry Education. Peer reviewed papers presented at the First Global Workshop on Forestry Education, September 2007, Nairobi, Kenya.