From March 8 – 12, 2010 LMRF and DED’s M&E unit, delivered the final training workshop of the 2008/2009 Emerging Researchers Capacity Enhancement Programme (ERCEP).

The Emerging Researchers Capacity Enhancement Programme for M&E in LED was set up and piloted in 2007. At the end of this pilot, a first batch of 15 participants graduated in March 2008. ERCEP aims to develop a pool of specialists that have knowledge of and skills in participatory monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment of programmes, projects and business ventures aimed at local economic development. Efforts are underway to further develop the programme for it to lead to a National Diploma at NQF level 6.

On June 17 and 18, 2009, LMRF and the M&E unit of DED delivered the Introductory Workshop of the 2009/2010 Emerging Researchers Capacity Enhancement Programme (ERCEP) in the Balmoral Hotel, Durban.

It is already the 3rd time the LMRF and DED run this programme with Petra Penninkhoff, of Royal Tropical institute in the Netherlands as the principal trainer.

The demand for the programme is increasing: the 2007/08 cycle counted 19 participants in 2008/09 21 participants made the cut from 31 applications received, and this year 45 applications were received from government departments, NGOs, the private sector and independent consultants. To allow for a truly interactive, participatory and effective programme only 25 participants can be admitted.

Keywords:

Corporate Social Investment; SME's; Local Economic Development (LED)

Abstract:

At the 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) conference, the involvement of SMEs in socially responsible behaviour was identified as a major area of needed research (Roussow, 2007). Very little is known about SME involvement in Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives internationally and in the South African context it remains an un-researched area. The purpose of this study is to investigate these matters further in an attempt to meet this research need and determine the extent of social investment beyond the corporate domain amongst SMEs in Durban. Through understanding this dynamic, further light can be shed on the role that CSI (and SME social investment) can play in Local Economic Development (LED).

Dear LMRF Partners,

As LMRF strategically positions itself towards becoming a self sustaining independent body, it became necessary to look for a dynamic and energetic leader with passion for innovative approaches to LED to drive the processes.   

 

From July 14 to 19, LMRF hosted a six -day training workshop on Facilitating Participatory Value Chain Development. Marije Boomsma (from the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Dr. Isaac Bekalo (Director of the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction East Africa Regional Office, Nairobi) and LMRF’s own Petra Penninkhoff facilitated the training.

On May 22-23, 2008 LMRF and the M&E unit of DED, delivered the Introductory Training Workshop of the 2008/2009 Emerging Researchers Capacity Enhancement Programme (ERCEP) in Protea Hotel, Durban. This is the second leg of this programme this year.

This is one of these shiny magical success stories that development journalists love to tell:

“Once upon a time there was a group of 145 farmers growing rose geranium in the mellow valleys of KwaZulu-Natal, a province in the distant country of South Africa. It was the treasure box for the world’s finest rose geranium essential oil. The oil that they made from their beloved plants was exported all over the world to become part of the most exquisite perfumes used by the high society of Paris, London, New York.”

Here is what you need for a successful community based tourism project: you take a site that has a rich history, a participating community, passionate community members, local champions and a business person who is just as experienced as he is dedicated to the development of the area.

Interview with Mark Johnson, committed driver of a local economic development project near Nquthu in KwaZulu Natal

Question: You have very ambitious plans turning the area around the Masotsheni property into a flourishing tourism hotspot. What made you become involved in such a project?