Document: CLGF Good Practice Scheme Project: Sustainable Agriculture for Economic Growth

Partners: Mopani District Municipality (South Africa) Thiruvananthapuram District  Panchayant (Kerala-India)

Mopani District Municipality Council is currently participating in the Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme Project which is being implemented jointly by Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) and South African Local Government Association (SALGA). The project’s focus is on Local Economic Development (LED) and it seeks to address targeted municipalities’ capacity challenges around LED. The Scheme promotes the mutual learning and good practice between partner municipalities. This is done through technical exchanges, collaborative working, pilot projects, and sharing of good practice. Mopani District Municipality is partnering with Thiruvananthapuram District Panchayant (Trivandrum) from the State of Kerala in India.

Project Goal

To contribute to poverty reduction through the provision of alternative farming methods and promotion of partnerships between the municipality and its stakeholders for increased capacity and job creation.

Purpose

To increase and diversify commercial agricultural production, enhance partnerships and increase agricultural capacity of specifically designated groups in the district.

Project Objectives

• To promote coordination of farmers to acquire knowledge on the use of  improved production of cattle, pigs and banana products as a result of the use of alternative methods of production
• To strengthen and enhance capacity of LED managers and government agricultural officials to be able to coordinate agricultural and LED initiatives for better access to well researched and reliable information that will assist emerging farmers to increase their capacity to produce high quality agricultural produce that will be acceptable to the formal markets.
• To enhance the  capacity of Mopani DM technicians to plan for water harvesting and conservation as alternative methods to irrigation water conservation

Download the document below for a more comprehensive project description, overview of outcomes and lessons learned.