One of the things about research data is that if it is not accessible it becomes useless. The AWARD BIOSMART project is looking at mobilising decades of data collected by a number of partners and making it available through the freshwater biodiversity information system (FBIS) currently being developed by the Freshwater Research Centre. This data then feeds into the Integrated Water Resources Decision Support System (INWARDS) platform, an innovation that allows for the integration and analysis of a number of data sets (hydrology, water quality, biodiversity, macro-invertebrates and fish ), enabling informed integrated decision making for the conservation of biodiversity.

“We needed a user interface that works as well as a data repository that is accessible”, said Hugo Retief, the programmer behind the innovation.

The interface allows for multiple data sources form various partners to be incorporated and shared simultaneously. Hugo explained that the platform allows for efficiency of data processing and analysis in hours that would normally take practitioners days!

Innovations in software such as Opensource have meant that systems can be easily updated and kept relevant to changes in practice – something that was not always possible in the past.

“One of the big benefits to the innovation,” says Hugo,” is that biodiversity data, often missing from compliance monitoring can now be given a rightful place in the process.”
 

AWARD and partners, Mahlathini Development Foundation, continue to empower communities from the Greater Sekororo and Mametja area. This month we continued with the establishment of committees for the implementation of the internationally recognised PGS accredited system for organic production.  Some of the key aspects included:

 

Farmers sign a pledge to produce organic veg for local market consumption

Farmers assess each other’s means of production for PGS certification

As part of a collaboration between AWARD and a WRC-funded project, a team of researchers investigated the nature of structural inequality perpetuated by legal systems and are trying to conceptualise and operationalise a ‘hybrid approach’ that can work at all levels of scale.

This specific study aims at understanding better, through the lenses and experiences of smallholder farmers their perceptions of water security. Water security in this sense is made up of a number of factors not only related to the physical availability of water but also to water entitlements, customary water tenure, participation in decision making etc.  Data collection will mostly be through in-depth interviews using interview guides or questionnaires – ongoing till August 2021. We will be reporting the project outcomes in the coming months.
 
“With many thanks to AWARD for all the work these past few days! It was certainly worth the trip to get a feel of what is taking place on the ground. The water woes are real, particularly for domestic water supply and more so for small-scale farmers as well as the complexity of the challenge. The narratives were indeed rich. We will hopefully share the report in the next few weeks.”  

AWARD is delighted to announce a new project on addressing the links between water and human health to be funded by the Water Research Commission of South Africa (WRC) and Inkomati Usutu Catchment Management Agency (IUCMA). The aim of the work is to capacitate water resource and public health managers to understand and manage biotic and human health risks arising from poor water quality and changes in flow in the Inkomati Catchment. For this phase, we will focus on the Crocodile River.

Ultimately, maintaining river flows with good water quality is intended to support societal well-being and one aspect of this is human health. But declining water quality and flow, such as that seen in some rivers of the lowveld has clear implications for human health since an unhealthy ecosystem – such as a river or wetland – cannot support a healthy community. 
 
However, assessing these risks in the complex work of water resources management is challenging and currently not readily possible. Water resources staff have to make complex decisions regarding the licencing of water and regulating water use. They also need early-warning systems for disaster management. For this, they need easy-to-use systems that allow them to integrate not only biophysical but social data as well, in order to assess risks and implications. For example, in our work with CMA and DWS staff, answers to the following questions are regularly sought: If this water-use licence is approved, what are the potential risks downstream and for which communities? Approving a water-use licence without understanding what the downstream or cumulative impacts might be, is proving exceedingly difficult. Access to information that supports this in a format that is easy to understand and use, is vital.
 
Ultimately, the outputs need to have meaning for water resource managers and stakeholders. Currently, water resource managers – and water users – are often provided with standards to comply with, which are developed by specialists and captured in reports. Since not everyone is a water quality specialist, these standards have little meaning or value unless they are rendered in a form that is readily understandable, and if not used in conjunction with the potential risks associated with non-compliance.  With universal applicability, we propose to use human health as an entry point for understanding risk.
 
Our work in the rivers of the Lowveld where declining water quality and flows threaten biotic and human health has highlighted the need for such a system.  The use of our INWARDS Decision- support system can quickly and partially contribute to an integrated understanding of risks for biotic and human health.
 
The project starts in July 2021 and runs to February 2023. We will adopt a collaborative, systemic approach and work closely with key stakeholders including the IUCMA, SANParks, DWS and the City of Mbombela amongst others. We aim to build capacity of key IUCMA staff through inclusion in the project.
 
Watch this space for project details in the coming months!
 

In May the Pretoria High Court started to hear the ‘Deadly Air’ court case. This case is the result of a decade of work by AWARD partner, the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), activists and communities to address the toxic air quality on the Mpumalanga Highveld, and the devastating health impacts of the pollution on the lives of people living there.
   

AWARD was invited to present at the NatSilt Symposium during May. The presentation was:

“Systems approaches to capacity development: principles and options for transforming water resources management practices in South Africa using siltation management as a case study”

This month we feature the efforts of Hoedspruit resident free range chicken farmer to establish a small-scale organic chicken business. Ian Shoebotham has been farming outside Hoedspruit on a smallholding with over a 1000 chickens. He set his system up to produce free range birds for the meat market but was met with many challenges. He shares his story and lessons with us this month.
 

What did you want to achieve by setting up this small scale chicken farm?
I tried to produce a better quality chicken that was free of medications and chemicals. I wanted to produce a healthier bird under free range conditions.
 
Tell us about the choices of bird you made?
I went with a broiler because that is what there is a market for. People are accustomed to the taste and texture of this breed. There is not much demand for a ‘heritage bird’ in the market place. I would have needed to source a specialised market for the heritage breeds and this would have been costly – so I opted for the broiler.
 
Was this a good choice?
It turns out that it was not a good choice under the conditions that I have been farming. My system would have been for laying hens and not growing chicken for meat production. There are many challenges growing broilers under free range conditions as this breed is not suited to my free range conditions.



What was your biggest capital outlay?
It is the infrastructure one needs to secure the birds in a safe place. Once needs cages and electric fences to move them around. You also need drinkers and such equipment when you are farming with a 100 or more birds.

How successful where you at creating jobs?
Well once you farm with more than a 1000 birds you will need assistance. Feeding, cleaning and changing the water are all vey time consuming and need to be done 7 days a week. Hygiene is a massive issue and needs to be maintained at the highest level. We employed three people but they also helped with other tasks.
 
What are some of the biggest lessons you learnt?
I have really seen how commercial animal breeds have been hybridised to such an extent that they are only there for meat production. In the process we have lost disease resistance and many of the natural instincts that enable these animals to survive under free range and natural conditions. So, for me taking the broiler and making it free range was very challenging and I incurred many losses.
 
So, what will you be moving on to?
I’m still thinking about that… but in the meantime I will grow high value crops for the food market. I will be trying some ginger, turmeric and garlic for a start. It is all a learning process.

Thanks Ian for sharing and we wish you the best of luck!
 

 

Take care!