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Walter Sisulu University aims to uplift the rural Eastern Cape (EC) province through its ground-breaking research on Local Action Groups (LAGS) and their role in promoting rural economic development.
This initiative is possible through the Walter Sisulu University Nedbank Research Chair in Sustainable Rural Development. This research Chair undertakes innovative applied research on LAGS and their role as conduits for deepening the understanding of approaches and methodologies in promoting and ensuring rural local development action.
The Chair was conceptualised against the background of ongoing and deepening rural poverty in the EC Province, which manifests itself through increasing number of rural households who are neither deriving income from agricultural nor non-agricultural activities.
Lead researcher, Professor Elphinah Cishe, said, “WSU was approached by Nedbank Eyethu Community Trust to submit a research proposal that could have an impact on rural livelihoods. The proposal focused on the establishment of a Chair on Sustainable Rural Development with an aim to respond to the Eastern Cape Vision 2030 call in its Rural Development Chapter.”
According to the Eastern Cape Vision 2030 strategic plan, “Extensive research is needed to identify factors that promote or hinder local rural development action, and that insights should translate into creating an institutional and education environment that enable rural populations to be change agents through their own knowledge and infusion of local based and indigenous solutions”.
The Eyethu Community Trust came into existence in June 2005 with the specific aim of providing black South Africans, and charitable organisations established for their benefit, with the opportunity to receive dividends on scheme shares.
The Trust supplements existing community social initiatives on a co-ordinated and consistent basis. They are currently supporting a total of five Honours and five Masters' students in the biodiversity and environmental sciences across the country
LAGs included involvement in co-operatives, savings schemes, farmers’ association, women organisations, and other community-based organisations.
“If there could be coordinated strategies to empower rural communities to participate in farm and non-farm activities, community members could mobilise and initiate their own funds. Improvement in food security needs through encouraging local grass root agricultural production could revive the rural economy and increase its value,” added Cishe.
Co-researcher, Zibo Mpongwana, also added that, “A public dialogue needs to be initiated to lobby policy makers to prioritise the promotion of LAGs as an alternative conduit that can be used to improve the competitiveness of rural economies. Local identity and a sense of ownership would go a long way in realising LAGS.”
The overall outcome of the study is to foreground research and innovation on development of the Eastern Cape Province model to bring about sustainable rural development in the province and the nation at large
“The aim of this research is to promote and encourage locals to take part in their rural economic development because they know their communities well and what could be done to fight poverty in their community,” added Mpongwana.
WSU is also involved in other agricultural projects such as citrus waste which discovers alternative ways in which citrus waste can be used as a pesticide in maize preservation.
- Anita Roji
