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An income-generating community-based nutrition project for rural women
J S Brits, PhD
Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of the North, Sovenga, Northern Province
NP Steyn, PhD
Department of Human Nutrition, University of the North
H Blunck, Dip MB
SASKO, Pietersburg, Northern Province
N Mampuru, B Tech
Food Science and Technology, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
V Letsoalo, NDET
Kotangwe Primary School, Mailula, Northern Province
L Mamabolo, NDHE
Department of Agriculture, University of the North, Sovenga, Northern Province

S A J Clin Nutr 2000 February Vol. 13 No 1.

Abstract

Objectives
To develop a community-based project for rural women with the objective of generating income and contributing towards household and local food security.

Design
A cohort study.

Methods
A local women’s group in Mailula, Northern Province, had meetings with the authors to decide on possible income-generating projects. Visits to other community-based projects were undertaken in order to expose them to various possibilities. A bakery was identified as being an excellent opportunity to generate income in a sustainable manner. A committee comprising community and private sector members was constituted to drive the process. The local chief donated land and a cash donation from a private company enabled the committee to erect a building housing the bakery. Before the bakery became operational eight women were given intensive training. The bakery became operational in April 1996, using a specifically designed oven operating on gas capable of baking 40 loaves of bread per session.

Results
Average daily income over a 5-month period ranged from R41.42 to R60.62. The ideal income could have been as high as R800 per day. The low productivity could be due to lack of management skills, poor marketing and selling skills, lack of motivation, lack of physical ability, and technical problems. From a positive point of view the bakery also had numerous advantages, such as community involvement, co-operation with State and private enterprise, and the opportunity for unemployed women to be productive and generate a small income.

Conclusions
This project indicated that a local rural bakery could provide a small income for unemployed rural women with no specific skills. However, intensive training was required as management and marketing skills had not been sufficiently addressed.

Household food security means the availability, accessibility and affordability of sufficient nutritious food. In South Africa the majority of people have to depend on buying food in order to ensure household food security, while rising food prices and poverty have contributed to insecurity in this regard. Shortage of food and hunger are important determinants of growth faltering and undernutrition in young children.1 In their article ‘Impoverished Africa: Who needs what?’ Walker and Walker 2 emphasised that virtually all populations need more food, cheaper food, and more employment opportunities. This sentiment was echoed by the Conference on Women and Food 3 and the World Declaration on Nutrition;4 both recommended income-generating small-scale local production as a means of stimulating economic growth and development.

In 1986 the World Health Organisation emphasised the importance of intersectoral co-ordination in public health.5 However, little attention has been paid to an analysis of the most appropriate roles for various governmental, non-governmental and private sector agencies in this intersectoral mix.6 The ideal situation appears to be one that links cheap food to local production by means of intersectoral action involving governmental and non-governmental agencies and industry.

In 1994 the Nutrition Committee adopted several guiding principles to develop an integrated nutrition strategy for South Africa. These include the following important principles, which should be kept in mind when developing nutrition programmes: (i) development and intersectoral action at all levels of government and society, thereby addressing malnutrition and its immediate, underlying and basic causes; and (ii) the nutrition programme must be compatible with the ethos and principles of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), and it should therefore be integrated; sustainable and environmentally sound; people- and community-driven; and targeted to address the problem of malnutrition in vulnerable groups, particularly among vulnerable children and women.

This article reports on the development of a community-based nutrition project in a poor community in Northern Province. Arecent survey in this area found that stunting and low weight for age were present in more than 30% of preschool children.7 This project is aimed at generating income for women while producing a staple food (bread) in the community. The contribution and roles of the various agencies involved are reported. The guiding principles of the RDP 8 were considered in the planning and implementation of the project.

Methodology

Background information
Northern Province is characterised by its low per capita income, high unemployment rate, and predominantly rural population (Table I).9-13 Only a small percentage of households have their own water and electricity supply. Nearly half of the population are illiterate, with a large dependency ratio. The infant mortality rate is higher than the national average and stunting affects nearly one-third of all children. The Nutrition Committee 1 have recommended that nutritional status, especially of young children, should be used as an indicator of social well-being and consequently as an outcome measure of the RDP. According to Table I social well-being is compromised in terms of the outcome of nutritional status of children. Socio-economic factors that appear to contribute most to this are the low per capita income (poverty), and illiteracy. The high unemployment rate and high dependency ratio are probably the major factors contributing towards low per capita income. One would consequently expect that a project aimed at food production and job creation in a rural community would achieve maximum benefits.

During 1995 the Department of Human Nutrition (University of the North) was approached by an extension officer from the Department of Agriculture in Mankweng. Arequest was made to assist a women’s group in Mailula with the formation of a job creation project.

Mailula is a small rural village 60 km north-west of Pietersburg with an estimated population of 6 000 residents. The rainfall is very low in this area (< 300 mm/pa), which limits food production. Few residents have electricity or taps in their homes and many houses are still built in the traditional manner. Cattle and goats roam freely and are responsible for much land degradation and soil erosion. Mailula falls within an area with a high percentage of stunting and low per capita income.14 1

Table I. Health and related indicators for Northern Province and South Africa 9-13

Assessment of needs and interest
In May 1995 a meeting was held with the local women’s group to explore possible job creation possibilities. The women indicated clearly that their need was to generate income as they were all unemployed. However, they were unsure of what they actually wanted to do to achieve this objective, apparently because of a lack of knowledge of the possibilities available to them. In order to determine the various interests of the women and to expose them to small business projects, visits to other community-based projects were undertaken. These included a visit to a self-help project at Mala (in former Venda) to view brick-making and fence-making; a visit to a rural bakery at Soetfontein; demonstrations/talks on candle-making, atjar-making, and vegetable gardening; and a course on sewing and carpet weaving.

The group then decided on three projects according to the interests of the different members, namely atjar-making, sewing and baking. This article reports on the bakery project only. The women themselves decided on their projects, a practice that is in keeping with the principles of community participation and empowerment. It was hoped that ownership of the project would generate sustainability.15

Role players and their functions
According to the Nutrition Committee, health and community development staff should work together with community structures to provide an integrated approach to solving nutrition problems. They also recommend that women’s and community clubs form the basis of management of programmes for improving household income.1

After having decided which projects they wanted to pursue, the women’s group elected a committee comprising a chairperson, a secretary and three members from the group (community). In addition, one representative from the Department of Human Nutrition and one from the Department of Kinesiology (University of the North), the principal of the local school and the agricultural extension officer were elected to assist with health and development aspects. At the first meeting it became clear that it would not be possible to initiate a bakery without sponsorship and a baking expert. Subsequently the private sector was approached and sponsorship and training expertise were recruited. A member of CRAFT (CSIR) also provided valuable input regarding the development of a small baking oven. The objective of the committee was to approach the intervention project in a holistic manner using a multi-sectoral, interdisciplinary approach.5

The Kgosi (chief) of Mailula and the indunas (elders) were kept informed of all developments. One of their representatives was invited to attend meetings of the bakery project. The Kgosi donated a plot to house the bakery and other projects.

Development of a crafts centre and bakery
A cash donation from a private company enabled the committee to erect a building (crafts centre) that could house the bakery and additional projects as required. Building materials (such as bricks), which were produced in the village, were bought to stimulate local growth, and residents of Mailula were employed as builders. The bakery was housed in one section of the building and included storage space, preparation area, baking oven and serving counter.

The oven used by Mailula Bakery has been specially designed for this purpose by a master baker (H Blunck personal communication). The oven is built with bricks and has a steel construction (Figs 1 and 2). It comprises a baking chamber and a proving chamber with a watertank underneath that absorbs direct heat, providing steam for the bread to ‘prove’. The latter process involves the yeast-producing bubbles of carbon dioxide that gently stretch the gluten, raising dough. The steam prevents the rising dough from developing a crust too soon and produces a lighter crumb. 16 One of the great advantages of this oven is that it can be fired with wood, coal or gas. The Mailula Bakery operates with gas, which is the most economical and environmentally friendly fuel. The baking chamber can take 40 loaves per bakery period, with the baking period being almost 60 minutes. Theoretically an 8-hour working day should produce 320 loaves of bread.

Training
Before the bakery became operational eight women were given intensive training on bookkeeping and marketing skills. A commercial baker worked with the women for the first 2 weeks to give them hands-on training. Thereafter the women were visited on a weekly basis to ensure that the bakery was functioning without problems. Shortly after the training was completed two women withdrew from the project and the remaining six continued.

Income
The total income over 5 months and the average daily income are shown in Fig. 3. Daily income ranged from R41.42 to R60.62 per day, with the lowest income during June and a gradual increase from July. The ideal income could be as high as R800/day working at maximum capacity. Currently each of the six women earns an average of R10.00 per day and a supply of bread for her family.

Figure 3 - A histogram showing income figures for Mailula Bakery over 5 months

Discussion
The production figures of the bakery over the first 5 months were rather disappointing, although the women claimed to be quite satisfied with their income. Low productivity could be ascribed to the following:

1. lack of management skills on the part of the woman elected manager by the rest of the group;
2. lack of marketing and selling skills;
3. lack of motivation;
4. lack of physical ability — most of the women were middle-aged and found the kneading of the bread to be very hard work; and
5. technical problems, e.g. faulty gas stopper in June.

From a positive point of view the bakery has many advantages:

1. the involvement and support of the community, particularly the women, in planning, implementation and monitoring as recommended by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF);17
2. co-operation between the State, private enterprise and society at large as recommended by Kracht and Hug,18 who stressed that people need opportunity, not charity; and
3. the opportunity for unemployed women to be productive and to generate income according to the 1992 ‘World Declaration on Nutrition’, ‘Our priority should be to implement people-oriented policies and programmes that increase access to and control of resources by the rural and urban poor, raise their productive capacity and incomes, and strengthen their capacities to care for themselves.’ 4

The craft centre with bakery were sponsored by GD Searle (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd. The Mailula oven was developed by Mr H Blunck of SASKO, Pietersburg. SASKO also supplied all initial baking products and training of the women’s group. CRAFT of the CSIR provided support and gave valuable advice. Mr Ladzani (University of the North) gave valuable input on small business development. Mr I Cook (Department Kinesiology and Physical Education) gave technical assistance with graphs and photographs.

References

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