DevelopeD with the support of

An integrAted strAtegy for

the Wild CoAst

INTEGRATED WILD

COAST DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAMME

In response to the unique challenges in the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast, the Province initiated the Integrated Wild Coast Development Programme, launched in 2013 and an ongoing priority.

In that context, the Department of Economic Affairs and Tourism approached the Government Technical Advice Centre (GTAC) in National Treasury for support. A diagnostic and strategic synthesis were undertaken and approved by the Provincial Cabinet in November 2014.

the wild Coast includes not only the poorest District Municipalities in the Eastern Cape, but also in the country. It is one of the areas worst affected by the history of land dispossession, the rise of the migrant labour system, and the consequences of apartheid’s homeland policies, which locked this beautiful region into the role of a labour sending area for south Africa’s core economy. the consequences include poor human development outcomes coupled with limited economic opportunities, despite the latent potential of the region. these legacies have not been overcome, and continue to be reproduced.

how to break this cycle, to create the kinds of economic opportunities that lift people out of poverty? the underlying logic of the strategic framework as approved is based on the following:

l improved economic outcomes in the wild Coast will be linked to improved social outcomes. improved nutrition, health and education are vital to breaking the cycle of poverty and changing the spectrum of economic opportunities that can be unlocked.

l the full spectrum of economic opportunities – from the most marginal to the most developed – are currently held hostage to systemic-level constraints, in particular the quality of roads, access to clean water, sanitation and waste removal, and the state of land administration.

These are issues that government can fix: but they requirestrengthenedsystemsofgovernanceandmanagement.

l the strategy will need to take into account existing levels and forms of economic participation and build on these. the challenge is to develop inter-related, supportive policies and programmes that open new economic opportunities and test new approaches, offering people choices and diverse pathways through which to improve their lives.

l in a region so poor but with such high levels of latent potential, the risks of extractive forms of development with few local multipliers are high. Criteria and approaches that maximise local impacts will need to be embedded in the way the strategy is operationalised.

The Strategic Synthesis explores the tension between approaches that seek to promote more intensive forms of commercial farming and those promoting more multi-functional land use practices. It concludes that the priority for strategy is to enable diverse choices and complementary pathways: with the common goal of improving livelihoods in sustainable ways.

the strategic synthesis highlights the headline areas for concerted action to unlock economic opportunity in the wild Coast. these are cross-cutting, with implications across different mandates and spheres of government, making co-ordinated effort one of the primary challenges. Many of the elements form part of existing priorities and programmes: the challenge is how best to draw down, crowd in and co-ordinate these efforts to achieve maximum impact locally. for the next steps envisaged in the outlined areas, see the full strategic synthesis document at xxxxx.

put the future firstthe most important investment in the future of the eastern Cape economy is in children under the age of six – and throughout their school years – to prevent disadvantage being locked into the next generation. Maternal nutrition, child nutrition, continuity of care in the family environment and access to early Childhood Development are all vital to cognitive development, while lack of access to shelter, clean water and sanitation undermine this. All these factors affect the extent to which education and skills development are able to create pathways out of poverty and become a basis for economic development.

Addressing deficits, backlogs and poor outcomes on all these fronts is therefore both a social imperative and an economic one, with systemic-level change in the quality of human development outcomes a critical driver of changed economic outcomes.

Get the bAsiCs riGht: ADDress systeMiC-level fAilures.A set of systemic-level failures are constraining economic development, whether these are initiated locally or rely on external investment. these add costs to doing business and significantly disincentivise investment – whether by local micro-enterprises, smallholder farmers or large external investors. the critical issues are:

l the state of the roads: including the feeder roads.l water, sanitation, energy and waste removal: with the

small towns a priority.l the breakdown in the system of land administration.At the heart of these issues are institutional failures. the solutions all lie within the scope of government to resolve. Doing so would transform the scope of opportunities in the wild Coast.

builD the eConoMiC DevelopMent role of sMAll townsGetting the basics right is necessary for small towns to play their role as economic hubs. the focus can then expand to strengthening the enabling environment for producers, buyers and sellers – with a focus on establishing clear rules of the game. Consideration needs to be given to the following:

l for small business: core infrastructure, incubators, ease of registration, strategies to attract providers of financial and business services, including input supplies – with attention to the needs of surrounding farming communities.

l for the informal sector: urban planning to ensure well-located markets, access to pay-as-you-go storage, freezer space, electricity, clean water, shelter and ablution facilities would enhance the quality and diversity of opportunities.

l for external formal sector investment: clear frameworks in relation to zoning, land servicing, costs of energy and water, and access to broadband.

A StrAtegic ApproAch to economic development in the Wild coASt

Unlock new possibilities with broadband and wifi

In the Wild Coast, distances are far and these are compounded by infrastructure weaknesses. Small wonder the take-up of cellphones has been so rapid. Yet in a context of dire poverty, airtime is now the arbiter of access to communication and information.

Free or affordable access to broadband and/or Wi-Fi for the Wild Coast could transform this, bringing the most remote villages into the ambit of real-time news and information – and the ability to transact, creating new forms of financial inclusion, as well as opportunities for new service offerings. This would also have implications for health monitoring, for education and access to materials, for labour market information, for tracking market prices for maize or livestock, and much more.

This is potentially one of the quickest wins for development in the Wild Coast, with wide impacts:

because it does not rely on any of the other systemic constraints being addressed before it can be rolled out. It could have transformative impacts on opportunities and choices, for both human and economic development.

An inteGrAteD strAteGy for the wilD CoAst

proMotinG opportunities for livelihooDs AnD enterprise ACtivity

Strategies targeting local markets

l improving the income returns from existing activities, and diversifying household income sources.

l building forms of economic co-operation to create economies of scale, reduce costs and/or increase returns.

l supporting ‘stay-ups’ as well as start-ups.

Strategiestargetingexternalorhighervaluemarkets

l exploring the role of intermediary forms of organisation able to assist in bridging the gap between local producers and wider and/or higher-value markets.

strenGthen ACtive lAbour MArket poliCies: inCluDinG support to MiGrAntswhile the migrant labour system had many negative dimensions, migrancy itself does not have to be a negative phenomenon. All over the world, people migrate to areas of high opportunity. for the foreseeable future, most employment opportunities for people in the wild Coast will continue to lie outside the region. the wild Coast needs a strategy to support its migrants, and to optimise the income returns that flow back to the region, recognising this as a vital pathway out of poverty and a resource for the region. support can include the following:

l improving the competitive advantages of migrants in accessing employment elsewhere. this includes more skilled labour and aligning skills development not only with local needs but also with wider demand.

l engaging roleplayers to rebuild or develop labour market facilitation and intermediation that provides information and assists migrant transitions.

l Asserting oversight of labour brokers and short-term contracts to improve protection of workers and working conditions.

l Catalysing innovation in developing improved service offerings targeted at migrants and their families.

Develop An inteGrAteD strAteGy for publiC eMployMentin a context in which markets and the private sector will be unable to create employment on the scale needed in the short to medium term, public employment programmes remain vital, relieving the pressure on social protection systems and providing people with incomes and the social and economic benefits of work experience – at the same time contributing to public goods and services.

phase 3 of the expanded public works programme (epwp) is focused on deepening the impacts of public employment, and on building greater convergence between the different components of epwp. An opportunity exists to make this happen in the wild Coast, with an integrated approach that uses public employment to support different aspects of the overall strategy: in infrastructure, the environment and social services, at the same time as using non-state sector programmes such as the Community work programme and the nGo sector to use public employment to deepen community participation and inclusion.

eAstern CApe DepArtMent of eConoMiC DevelopMent, environMentAl AffAirs AnD tourisM (DeDeAt)

Sector StrAtegieS

the strategic synthesis emphasises the importance of a value-chain approach to unlock opportunities in different sectors that have potential in the Wild Coast:

l Agriculture l forestry and timberl tourism l infrastructure development and constructionl retail l Mining and quarrying.

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