Colloquium on Rural Development

Peter Kimemia attended a three day Colloquium on Rural Development, hosted by the Fort Hare University at the Bisho Campus.

Afesis-corplan is interested in matters of rural development and has contributed towards the provincial rural development strategy. With the focus of government currently being on rural development, Afesis-corplan has a role to play: rural development is in line with the organisation’s principles of alleviating poverty.

With regard to agriculture, Afesis-corplan is planning to identify appropriate markets and as a result the Colloquium’s proceedings were important in this light.

Afesis-corplan has projects directly linked to rural development and being invited to participate in the Colloquium on Rural Development enabled the opportunity to share information and hear the views of other participants.


Interacting with the ECPSDP

During the month of May, Afesis-corplan attended the Eastern Cape Provincial Spacial Development Planning (ECPSCP) Strategic Conference, held by the Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs assisted by UN-HABITAT. The purpose of the conference was to review the Eastern Cape Provincial Spatial Development Plan (ECPSDP), to help shape the PSDP and to create a better understanding of development trends, to achieve consensus on a spatial development philosophy and strategies to achieve this.

Towards the end of May, Afesis-corplan hosted a meeting with the ECSDP consultants. The meeting involved the Eastern Cape Non-Governmental Organisation Coalition (ECNGOC) as well as three or four other ECNGOC affiliates. The purpose of the meeting was to find out what progress was being made in the provincial spacial development planning and to discuss how civil society can become more involved in the planning process.

For Afesis-corplan, it is important to find out what is happening in the Eastern Cape in terms of provincial special development, especially since it is the focus of one of our core projects. The conference and subsequent meeting helped to identify opportunities for civil society organisations in order to propose effective plans for future projects. It is important for the ECPSDP to realise that the NGO sector is still very much alive and active.

Because ECPSDP is not structured to promote community development, Afesis-corplan is involved to influence the outcome of future plans, to make sure that future planning exercises incorporate a strong public participation element, to see to it that the needs of the poor are addressed in the plan, and that land is made available for low cost housing and small business development.