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June 2007: National NGO Meeting: 12 June 2007, A national NGO meeting of the South African NGO Network was held at the Durban Fresh Produce Market. The meeting selected the new coordination organization, and Dr. Buthelezi a new Coordinator.
May 2007: TAD position: the position of Technical Advisor, Disposal for the South Africa ASP is filled and in place.
March 2007: Joint Supervision Mission: 26-30 March 2007, a 4-day joint supervision mission was hosted by the ASP Partners: World Bank, FAO, and CropLife. The NGO Representative, GroundWork, was officially invited to join the National Steeting Committee
February 2007: Interviews: Interviews were held for the position of Technical Advisor Disposal for the South Africa ASP.
February 2007: Consultants: The recruitment of the Pesticide Management consultant was completed by the South African PMU. Progress is being made to recruit Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Legislative Review consultants.
February 2007: Ecotox Monitoring Training: 12 February 2007, Representatives from NGOs in South Africa attended the PAN hosted Ecotox monitoring training in Benin.
January 2007: IPM Workshop: 28-31 January 2007. Representatives from NGOs in South Africa attended a 3-day PAN hosted IPM workshop.
January 2007: NGO representative: 2 January 2007, Official notification that groundWork South Africa was nominated by other NGOs as the interim NGO Representative for South Africa.
December 2006: Technical Advisor Disposal: The position of Technical Advisor: Disposal (TAD) for the ASP in South Africa was advertised on the ASP website, CropLife website and in publications. The position, employed by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), will facilitate activities necessary for the safe and complete disposal of obsolete pesticide stockpiles, advising on, and to facilitate all activities relating to the location, identification, collection and ultimate destruction of the national pesticide stockpiles.
November 2006: CESA: Work initiated on the Country Project-specific Environment and Social Assessment (CESA).
September 2006: Pilot Collection: A pilot collection of obsolete pesticide stocks from farmers in Limpopo Province was explored with industry, agricultural organisations and NGOs. The inventory in Limpopo province is planned for March 2007.
September 2006: NGO National Meeting: 1 September 2006, Cape Town, 20 participants attended a national NGO meeting. With participation by PAN-Afrique, PAN-UK and AGENDA, the group officially established the ASP South Africa ASP Network, and initiated proceedings with the South African NGO umbrella group (SANGOCO).
June 2006: Project Launch Workshop: 26-29 June 2006, the Project Launch Workshop took place over 3 days. The workshop focused on project implementation arrangements, procurement, disbursement, and safeguards. It was especially beneficial to have the broad participation of ASP Partners and collaborators in attendance, in order to develop joint discussions over a range of implementation activities.
April 2006: Grant Agreement: 4 April 2006, the Grant Agreement for the ASP South Africa was signed.
March 2006: Preparation: Planning and preparation for the approval of the ASP grant agreement is underway as the National Team have their first province meetings, and initiate meetings with CropLife, NGOs and farmers unions to discuss pesticide production and distribution chain inventory.
September 2005: GEF Approval: South Africa was one of the two ASP countries to be negotiated and presented to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) council and the World Bank Board for approval.
For more information on the South Africa ASP, please contact:
- Project Coordination: Ms Dee Fischer, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), email: dfischer@deat.gov.za
- NGO Activities: Mr Ben Mazibuko, Groundwork South Africa, email: ben@groundwork.org.za
Country Information
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is located at the southern most region of the African continent, and has a coastline stretching more than 2500km across the Atlantic and Indian oceans. 1,219,912 km² in area, South Africa is divided into nine integrated provinces and borders Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Lesotho. The climatic zones and topography vary significantly, from the extreme desert in the farthest northwest to the lush subtropical climate in the east, to the mountainous escarpment towards the interior plateau, and the Mediterranen climate to the extreme southwest. With eleven official languages, and an estimated population of 47 million in 2005, South Africa is diverse in culture and beliefs. There are almost one thousand agricultural cooperatives and agribusinesses throughout the country, the largest locally produced crop is maize, although due to the aridity of the land, only 13.5% of the land can be used for crop production, people in some rural areas still survive on subsistence agriculture. (figures: 2001 census data)
Photo Credits: (left to right) ©WWF-Canon/Donald Miller; ©WWF-Canon/Martin Harvey;
PAN-UK/Mark Davis; ©WWF-Canon/Donald Miller; ©WWF-Canon/Sandra Mbarielo Obiago; PAN-UK/Mark Davis;
©WWF-Canon/Howard Buffett
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