A cross visit took place to Emmaus on 8 August 2024 to visit Ezimbomvini and EStulwane communities.
Mahlathini Development Foundation (MDF) hosted the event that was attended by representatives of different actors including WWF, the expanded freshwater and terrestrial environmental observation network (EFTEON), Institute of Natural Resources (INR), Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and the farmers from KwaMkhize community that EWT is supporting. The purpose of this day was to create a platform where farmers exchange knowledge so that farmers in Emmaus could share their experiences and achievements with the farmers from KwaMkhize.
Erna Kruger, Director at MDF, officially started this event by sharing a brief power point presentation. That was an introduction to the work that everyone was about to see during the field visit. Samson Phakathi (EWT) also introduced the type of work they do. In terms of livelihood support, EWT has been focusing more on spring protection and KwaMkhize is one of those communities.
The farmers from KwaMkhize were also given a platform to introduce themselves to the audience and take everyone through what they have been working on as community members and as farmers. KwaMkizwe farmers are working in cooperatives that are working with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, who have played a major role in providing farming inputs and machinery.
The first stop of the trip was to see the spring protection at Ezibomvini, and the entire system attached to it. This spring feeds five households, and the system requires them to work together and be responsible with water use. It was pointed out that this system has provided many lessons and gave rise to three more water access systems supported by MDF.
The Eco-Champs, which are a youth group in Emmaus, started to reflect on the erosion gullies and other degraded areas in their community. The community from Ezibomvini is also attempting to lantana from the area. This is an alien invasive plant species that is encroaching their grazing land. The cross visit also included a visit to the garden of one of the community members, where there were discussions about how to protect crops from frost.
After lunch, the group moved on to visit the rehabilitation site at Estulwane. It was then pointed out that this site served as a demonstration site for community members to witness that land can be rehabilitated, which then encouraged them to start focusing more on other areas. They started by changing the position of the gate into the grazing camps as a means of trying to rest and rehabilitate the path used by livestock to enter and exit the communal grazing camps. They have also started to cut down wattle along the stream as a means of saving water in the catchment.
Another stop was at Nothile Zondi’s household where e fodder production activities were showcased. There was a discussion of how a farmer can take care of their livestock by planting fodder and Nothile also demonstrated how she makes her own bales using a manual baler, which was of much interest to the visiting farmers.
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