CONCLUSIÓN DE LA EVALUACIÓN FINANCIERA

Yes No

67 | P a g e 4.2.4 The following views were reported by the respondents:

 Members of the project benefited from the Programme. The members of the project had gained skills in marketing and stock taking. This made it easier to run the project.

 People in the community purchase vegetables, with affordable prices, from the projects.

 Project members had gained certain skills. For example, improved communication skills had assisted them in realising their potential.

 There had been improvements in agricultural methods such as ploughing.

 Although the majority of the project respondents made positive remarks, some negative findings are, as follows:

1. One contributing factor was that funds were granted to projects without prior training in project and financial management, entrepreneurship, basic business and technical skills and conflict management.

2. Lack of monitoring and evaluation by the officials of the Department.

3. Lack of funding from other donors.

4. The equipment used needs to be serviced.

5. Lack of commitment from certain project members.

6. Income received by the project members is insufficient.

4.2.4. Problems encountered

According to Hurley (1990: vii) “practical analysis by project interveners has not always been based on the impact of the intervention on the lives of the participants and other poor people in the community - but rather on the assumptions, preconceptions and ideological preferences of the interveners.” Even though there are success stories

‘these have been clouded with challenges: for example there is

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 Lack of funding from various Departments.

 Lack of technical training and business skills, especially financial management.

 Non-payment of project members has affected members negatively: they expected to be paid, instead of sharing profits after selling their goods.

 There are limited markets for selling their vegetables; they are also struggling to secure a contract to big markets.

 Frequent break-ins and stealing at the site.

 There was a lack of commitment among the project members to attend meetings and to participate in project activities. Discipline appeared to be a recurring problem in the projects, and some members did not come to work regularly and still expected to be paid out equally with those who had met their commitments.

 Funding is very limited and does not cover certain needs of the project.

 Lack of monitoring and support from the funders.

 Lack of knowledge and relevant skills in project management. Conflict and corruption among members has affected members’ morale.

 There issue of problems with water supply from the Municipality for irrigation purposes.

C.10 Monitoring by Government Departments

95 % of the respondents were not satisfied with the monitoring by the government department involved in the project. However the other 5% were satisfied with the monitoring. They majority indicated that project members are not autonomous even when if the funds are depleted.

Project members stated that:

The requisition form process took a long time and this delay compromised the functioning of the project.The respondents point out that taking documents from one

69 | P a g e office to another for a signature is costly and makes things difficult for the members of the project.

Some of the projects were satisfied about the monitoring that the Departments of Social Development, Municipality Urban Agriculture and DRDRA are offering to the project.

There was suspicion about how the funds of the relevant department were being utilized.

4.2.5 Sustainability of the project

C11.The research revealed the project is not making a profit. One of the contributing factors was improper planning and implementation of the project’s goals. Myers (1999:128) reports that considerable research has been undertaken by a large number of development organisations that have been promoting various income generating strategies aimed at to alleviating poverty.The studies have revealed that the experience of these interventions has been varied and too often been a failure, thus bringing the question of sustainability into focus. For example, findings reveal that:

 Income vs expenditure is not calculated properly and that this leads to poor pricing.

 Lack of skills among the members of the projects result in low production and insufficient income generation

 The quality of the products produced is poor due to seasonal factors. Therefore they cannot command high prices so as to make reasonable profits

 The community would not purchase poor quality products. This resulted in project members selling their products at cheap prices. For example a project member stated that the poor market was one of the contributing factors for lack of sustainability of the project.

The majority 90% reported that projects could be sustainable if they had received more funding and enjoyed a more secure market.

The sustainability of the project thus appears to depend on positive working relationships between project s members, the project committee and the staff involved.

70 | P a g e Sustainability also depends on knowledge about the operation of the project and the degree of interest displayed by project members.Hurley (1990:52) observes that these projects simply drain resources as they do very little to improve the beneficiaries' skills and there is no motivation to work harder as their salaries are guaranteed. If the aid were withdrawn, the women's situation would still be the same as before the intervention.

“One project member stated that provision of a mentor is crucial to impact skills and knowledge for a period of a year.

4.2.6. Perceptions regarding the income generating project

Figure 11

87% of the respondents felt an income-generation project was an unemployment strategy while 13 % perceived it as providing empowerment for people to realise their potential.

“A project member stated that empowerment through basic business and technical skill could assist in sustaining the project.”

87%

13%

0; 0%

0; 0%