May AWARD Newsflash
AWARD launches WEBINAR WEDNESDAY series
 As part of sharing the outcomes of the USAID:RESILIM Olifants programme AWARD is running a series of Webinar Wednesdays. During these 1½ hour sessions, we are covering a spectrum of topics emerging from work conducted under the RESILIM O programme. Each session is conducted on the ZOOM Webinar platform. You can peruse the topics and register by clicking here.
The titles and dates for the webinars are: (Recordings of webinars that have taken place already can be accessed by the links below or on the AWARD website)
- 27 May: 1. Putting biodiversity back on the map
Experiences and reflections from working with under-resourced municipal spatial planners in the Olifants River Catchment, South Africa
- 3 June: 2. A window on an uncertain future for water resources sustainability – are we prepared?
Maintaining transboundary flows and governance in the Olifants River Basin in the face of increasing risk
- 10 June: 3. Making meaning of climate change
Experiences of using a conversational, systemic approach for building climate change capacity to act in the Olifants River Basin
- 17 June: 4. Farming for the Future
Building networks and skills for climate change preparedness in small-scale farmers in the Olifants River Basin
- 24 June: 5. Power taken, power given
Facilitating co-management in the Legalameetse Nature Reserve and reflections on the ‘conservation and livelihood’ marriage
- 1 July: 6. Learning our way forward into the unknown
Using complexity-sensitive monitoring and evaluation in the Olifants River Basin
AWARD steps in to help the needy
Along with a number of CSOs in the region, AWARD has stepped in to assist the needy during the COVID crisis.
Food parcels for vulnerable families in rural areas of ‘The Oaks- Mametja’ (Limpopo Province)
South Africa has been in lockdown for eight weeks now and we have started to see the impacts in many of the areas where AWARD has been working for over 18 years including the rural areas in Bushbuckridge, Mametja-Oaks and Sekororo and surrounds. The lockdown in South Africa has been very strict and cut most families off from their income streams. Many families rely on jobs through tourism, the construction sector, labour on farms and offering services within their own villages. All this has stopped or is being severely curtailed leaving many with the bare minimum.
Since many of our partner NGOs are supporting the Bushbuckridge area, we have decided to focus our efforts on the Mametja-Oaks area where we have been working over the past four years. These villages haven’t received much support and households are suffering. Although lockdown will ease from June it is clear that many families who have relied on tourism or piecemeal work on farms will continue to have absolutely no income. With less income to spend internally in the village, even those offering services around the village (like child-care and brickmaking) are very hard hit.
We have been working through our AGRI SI farmer groups to collectively identify the priority households who are receiving no support such as government food parcels. Due to limited resources, we are having to limit support to the most vulnerable such as child-headed households. We are personally meeting with every household to ensure we know people and that they understand what we are able to offer.
From initial interviews, it is clear that many people in these communities have run out of food and money completely. In some cases, the entire family lives off a child-care grant or an old-age pension whilst those without even this, beg from neighbours. Many struggle for access to water.
Currently, we are able to support about 80 households for about a month through food parcels. Our partner organisation – MDF – is able to support an additional 10 households. We also hope to provide small ‘jojo’ tanks to families without water storage options.
See below if you would like to support us in this work.
Good news on support for
small-scale food production
On April 6 2020, the Minister of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Minister Didiza, announced a R1,2 billion COVID-19 disaster relief fund for small-scale farmers. However, this fund bypassed the small-scale growers and village gardens that are a lifeline during the COVID crisis. On 20 May a small task team representing civil society organisations (see last month’s Newsflash for People’s Coalition submission to the Minister) met with the Minister to discuss the opening of a ‘second window’ of grants specially aimed at supporting small scale farmers. This is good news and the Minister and Director General urged civil society to engage with them and help find solutions to these challenges. The multiple stakeholder platform established to deal with the grants and the COVID crisis is the appropriate space for this engagement. AWARD and a number of partners are actively involved in the ongoing engagements with the department.
A small-scale farmer field in Sedawa village, Limpopo exemplifies the amount of green beans and sweet potatoes available reports our partner Mahlahtini Development Foundation [Photo: MDF]
Kruger National Park and partners provide
COVID-19 support through the
Greater Kruger Strategic Development Plan
The Greater Kruger COVID-19 partnership, of which AWARD is a member, is working in conjunction with the Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provincial Command and District Joint Operational Committees to find ways of addressing the following:
- Livelihoods in terms of food security and employment security
- Water security and provision of basic services in surrounding areas
- Primary health, education and safety measures put in place
- Dealing with increased environmental crime (bush meat, poaching etc.)
- Economic measures and scenarios
- Immediate and short-term employment opportunities: EPWP, e.g. environmental monitors, infrastructure programmes, wildlife economy, green economy (including waste
- Determining the socio-economic impact of COVID-19
- Strengthening partnership networks for a collective response
- Reviewing cost-saving measures
AWARD is contributing to a number of these areas through some of its projects. One of the key initial steps is to set up a comprehensive database of partners and their activities in the region. We will be providing you with updates on progress in due course.
Dam update: Things continue to look good…
The pictures this month (from FlowTracker) show that six major dams in the Olifants system are nearly, or more than, 100% full. This is good news for going forward into the dry winter month. However we need to keep our eyes on CONSUMPTION as well as dam levels!
The message this month is …. Every drop counts!
Have you still not got the Flow Tracker app?
Get it NOW!
Scan the QR code to download the app or go to Google Playstore
We need your help!
 Through donations, we can continue our support for households in need.
AWARD has made money available to help needy households, however, these funds will dwindle rapidly. We would like to extend both our reach to other desperate families and through many more months.
We are asking for donations as soon as possible and anything helps. Here is a guide of how far your donation can go…
The cost of a food parcel with basic supplies plus vegetables for a week varies:
- Smaller parcels: R 276 ($11)
- Larger parcels: R 343 ($15)
The once-off cost for an improved water source.
If you would like to donate please click on the link below:
DONATIONS: www.backabuddy.co.za/help-vulnerable-families
We will provide you with monthly updates on how the programme is progressing.
We know that all of you are living through this crisis in a variety of challenging circumstances and we would like to thank you for your support.
TAKE CARE!
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