Document: Poverty Reduction and creation of jobs through the establishment of Cooperatives and development of Agricultural Markets.

Partners: Vhembe District Municipality (South Africa) - Gondal Local Municipality (Gujarat India)

Vhembe District Municipality Council is currently participating in Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme Project which is running in six countries namely, India, Jamaica, Ghana, Pakistan, Sierra Leone and South Africa. In South Africa the project 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 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 Gondal local Municipality for Gujarat in India.

Project Goal
To contribute to poverty reduction and job creation through the establishment of cooperatives, development of capacity of LED municipal officials and small scale farmers, partnership working and the facilitation of markets.

Project purpose
To increase the capacities of the Local Economic Development Department of the Municipality to develop and design Local Economic Development initiatives that enhance the capacity of small scale farmers and artists and facilitate markets for their products.

Project Description
The project between Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) and Gondal Municipality focuses on the creation of employment through establishment of cooperatives, the facilitation of markets for agricultural produce and the development of skills of emerging farmers. It also seeks to build the skills of VDM LED staff to be able to develop and design agricultural based programmes that address poverty and unemployment. Gondal Municipality has successfully managed to establish an Agricultural Produce Market (APM) which benefits 323 277 farmers. VDM has identified opportunities to learn from this since it is in the process of establishing its own Agricultural Produce Market. Gondal Municipality has also succeeded in establishing a cotton-weaving cooperative which also presents an opportunity for Vhembe to learn about cooperatives and managing value chains. Rajkot District Panchayat also offers a good example of how a district council can support economic development activities of a local municipality. The project is a three year project and it involves the Directorate of Planning of VDM focusing on the Local Economic Development Department. The project grant is £40000.

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