Working For Water Programme Research Articles

Evaluating the environmental and social net-worth of controlling alien plant invasions in the Inkomati catchment, South Africa

The present study attempted to bridge some gaps in the existing literature evaluating the net economic worth of South Africa’s Working for Water (WfW) programme for eradicating invasive alien plant species (IAPS). Specifically, the study employed the social benefit-cost analysis (BCA) methodology to assess the impact of accounting for the opportunity cost of invested capital funds and treating labour as a social benefit on the social worthiness of the WfW programme in the Inkomati catchment. The study also used improved measures of the value of other ecosystem services, particularly the carbon sequestration values. Results of the social BCA provided strong empirical evidence in support of the continuation of IAPS eradication activities, as economically and socially worthwhile investment of the country’s resources. The programme generates higher net worth under lower rates of discounting future values. This confirms the importance of the water-saving benefits, which continue theoretically for ever, at zero cost to the society, as all direct and indirect financial costs cease upon completion of the eradication operations. The social net worth of the IAPS eradication programme obviously increases when expenditure on labour wages was considered a social benefit rather than a direct financial cost, even under strict project funding scenarios that require funding through private capital markets, i.e., paying commercial rates of interest. However, more strategic planning for the control of IAPS is critically important given their high cost. Challenges facing the sustainability of IAPS eradication programmes in the study area and South Africa include: raising sufficient funding from private and public sources, and introducing incentive systems to encourage higher collaboration and participation of private landowners in the currently primarily publicly driven IAPS eradication efforts. The study also suggests a number of policy and technological reforms to address the said challenges.

Do abandoned farmlands promote spread of invasive alien plants? Change detection analysis of black wattle in montane grasslands of the Eastern Cape

ABSTRACTInvasive alien plants (IAPs) pose a threat to ecosystem integrity and generally provide more disservices than services. Acacia mearnsii (black wattle) was introduced to South Africa for its provisioning and economic potential. Since then, it has colonized large areas and it is a high priority taxon by the Working for Water (WfW) programme. This study establishes the nature of the spread of A. mearnsii in grasslands in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, with the aim of providing feedback to the WfW programme on IAP expansion and focal areas of concern. Land cover change detection analysis using historical aerial photographs showed that A. mearnsii has spread more extensively into disturbed (abandoned cultivation and overgrazed) grasslands compared to undisturbed natural grasslands from the initial plantings prior to 1958. Using the point-centred quarter method to determine density, and an allometric equation to determine above-ground biomass, a growth model for A. mearnsii was prepared. The incremental annual increase in the standing biomass of A. mearnsii using the model, validated against MODIS Net Primary Productivity data, was estimated to be ~10.5 ton DM ha−1 yr−1. The spread rate of wattle maybe up to 10% and several alternative control strategies need to be considered.

Jobs, water or conservation? Deconstructing the Green Economy in South Africa’s Working For Water Programme

South Africa’s Working for Water (WfW) programme launched in 1995 has received national and international acclaim for its attention to clearing alien species and providing employment among historically disadvantaged communities. In recent years, the Green Economy narrative has pervaded the national policy agenda, with the WfW programme being showcased as a symbol of Green Economy praxis. The paper considers recent developments in WfW and whether its objectives have been achieved in light of tensions and constraints associated with the macro-policy environment. Drawing upon evidence from field-based research in Western Cape Province, the experience of the Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative (ABI) is examined, in which a number of stakeholders including private landowners, community members and local government bodies are collaborating in a landscape management initiative. Despite some worthwhile benefits, ABI has suffered from some problems and contradictions. In the future such projects need to have stronger environmental objectives, but in reality these are likely to be constrained by neo-liberal thinking at national and supra-national levels.

Estimates of the impacts of invasive alien plants on water flows in South Africa

The adverse impacts of alien plant invasions on water flows have been a prime motivation for South Africa’s Working for Water Programme. The approach used in this study builds on a previous national assessment in 1998 by incorporating factors that limit plant water-use, information from recent research and improved flow reduction models. The total reduction in flows is estimated to be 1 444 million m 3 ·yr −1 or 2.9% of the naturalised mean annual runoff (MAR), less than half of the 3 300 million m 3 ·yr −1 estimated in 1998. Two main factors account for this difference: (a) a decrease in the estimated unit-area flow reduction to 970 m 3 ·ha −1 ·yr −1 compared with 1 900 m 3 ·ha −1 ·yr −1 estimated in 1998, largely due to the new model being based on more representative reduction factors; and (b) the updated estimate of the condensed invaded area of 1.50 million ha (previously 1.76 million ha), although the taxa mapped for this assessment only accounted for 1.00 million of the 1.76 million ha reported in 1998. Reductions due to invasions in Lesotho are estimated to be about 161 million m 3 ·yr −1 and those in Swaziland about 193 million m 3 ·yr −1 . The taxon with the greatest estimated impact was wattles ( Acacia mearnsii , A. dealbata , A. decurrens ) with 34.0% of the total reductions, followed by Pinus species (19.3%) and Eucalyptus species (15.8%). The revised estimate is considered on the low side largely because the extent and impacts of riparian invasions have been underestimated. If the current estimates that 4–6% of Acacia mearnsii , Eucalyptus , Populus and Salix invasions are riparian, are adjusted to a more representative 20%, 50%, 80% and 80%, respectively, the total reductions increase by nearly 70% to ~2 444 million m3·yr−1. Producing these estimates involved a number of assumptions and extrapolations, and further research is needed to provide more robust estimates of the impacts. Keywords: plant water-use, flow reduction, mean annual runoff, riparian invasions, Working for Water Programme

Satellite-based annual evaporation estimates of invasive alien plant species and native vegetation in South Africa

In this study we assessed the impact that invasive alien plant species (IAPs), and the clearing thereof by the Working for Water (WFW) programme, have on total evaporation (ET) and the availability of water resources in two highly-invaded provinces of South Africa. The Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) model, using MODIS satellite imagery, was used to estimate the annual total ET at 250 m pixel resolution. ET was estimated for 3 climatically different years for the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The average annual ET from areas under IAPs, native vegetation, exotic plantation forestry species and control (clearing) areas were compared. The ET of the 5 dominant IAPs (Acacia mearnsii, Acacia saligna, Eucalyptus spp., Hakea spp. and Pinus spp.) in the Western Cape province was 895 mm, which was significantly higher than the ET of most of the native vegetation (thicket 575 mm and fynbos 520 mm), but similar to the ET of dominant exotic plantation forestry species (805 mm). On average, the ET was reduced by 13% to 780 mm, following clearing. In KwaZulu-Natal Province, the ET of the 5 dominant IAPs (Acacia mearnsii, Chromoleana odorata, Eucalyptus spp., Lantana camara and Solanum mauritanium) was 875 mm, which was also higher than the ET of the native vegetation (thicket 755 mm, savanna 685 mm and grassland 640 mm). Following IAP control the ET was decreased by 6%, to 825 mm. This study has demonstrated that spatial ET data with GIS-information on land use can be used to assess the impact of IAPs, and clearing thereof, on water resources. We confirmed results from previous studies, which showed that ET from invaded areas exceeded that from native vegetation. The ET data needs further validation as validation appeared to be impossible. Our results are likely conservative since the majority of invaded areas considered in this analysis represent non-riparian areas. The impact of WFW control of densely-invaded riparian areas is likely more pronounced. We concluded that the clearing of IAPs by the WFW programme has a positive effect on the availability of water resources through a reduction in ET.Keywords: invasive alien plants; indigenous vegetation; remote sensing; water use; evapotranspiration; SEBAL; Western Cape; KwaZulu-Natal

Determining the feasibility of harvesting invasive alien plant species for energy

Woody invasive alien plants (IAPs) are a threat to South Africa’s water resources, biodiversity and land productivity. The impacts of IAPs were the main reason for the South African government to embark on a natural resource management public works programme called Working for Water (WfW), which was aimed at controlling IAPs in a cost-effective yet labour-intensive way. At the same time, the high biomass of these species presents opportunities for synergies between the clearing of IAPs and the generation of biomass-based energy. The purpose of this study was to determine the cost of harvesting and extracting, chipping, and transporting the biomass, and also to determine the financial and economic feasibility of such an exercise from a commercial perspective. Sampling of the biomass was done at 31 representative sites within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. The cost of the operation was carefully monitored, documented and reported at each stage, and compared to the cost of replacing the thermal coal currently used by industry within this municipality. The project proved to be financially viable, but only when the energy entrepreneur forms a partnership with the WfW programme, and then only under specific conditions. The project has, however, very high socio-economic returns with respect to a reduction in environmental externalities and job creation.

Beneficiaries’ aspirations to permanent employment within the South African Working for Water Programme

The South African Working for Water (WfW) programme is a short-term public works programme (PWP) focused on clearing invasive alien plants, while training and empowering the marginalised poor to find employment. Furthermore, it aims to develop independent, entrepreneurial contractors who should ‘exit’ from the programme into the broader labour market. However, evidence indicates that many beneficiaries have become financially dependent on this employment, and find it difficult to search for alternatives. Understanding the reasons for this dependence from the perspective of the beneficiaries of this PWP is crucial to align such projects to the actual needs of the beneficiaries, but these have not yet been considered from a sociological perspective. This article reports on data collected, through face-to-face interviews, on WfW beneficiaries’ aspirations to permanent employment in four projects in the Winelands and Overberg districts of the Western Cape. It presents the novel finding that the social structures within projects themselves seem to create a need to remain in the WfW programme. In addition, a misalignment between these projects’ implementation and beneficiaries’ aspirations to financial stability (associated with permanent employment in WfW) is highlighted. The authors argue that WfW should respond to these aspirations, rather than pursue the ostensibly unrealistic aim of creating independent entrepreneurs. Finally, the implications of these findings for PWPs globally, and their concerns regarding the inadvertent creation of beneficiary dependence, are outlined.

South Africa's working for water programme: searching for win–win outcomes for people and the environment

AbstractPoverty reduction and environmental conservation have rarely been integrated within development programmes. In South Africa, however, the government's Working for Water Programme (WfW) has sought to empower the most marginalized in society through the creation of jobs and training opportunities in the clearance of invasive alien plants that threaten water resources and biodiversity. Although the environmental benefits of the programme have been demonstrated, there is emerging concern that the social development goals are overly ambitious and impractical. Drawing upon recent field research undertaken in the Western Cape, this paper explores the realities of people's participation in the WfW programme. It argues that, whilst WfW has produced some positive tangible social development outcomes, these are neither substantial nor sustainable. Of arguably greater significance is a range of hitherto overlooked intangible social development outcomes, which if recognized, supported and integrated more fully into the programme could lead to a more sustainable future for South Africa's people and environment. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The Discount Rate for Public Sector Conservation Projects in South Africa

Abstract: South Africa, in an attempt to reduce unemployment and alleviate poverty, has implemented a number of public sector conservation projects: the largest one being the Working for Water Programme (WfWP). Sound economic decision‐making regarding the economic feasibility of these public sector conservation projects require that they be subjected to economic assessment in the form of cost‐benefit analysis. One aspect of cost‐benefit analysis, which is often neglected, is the choice of the social discount rate. This paper addresses the issue of what the social discount rate for public sector conservation projects should be and provides an example of how to derive a social discount rate for a public sector conservation project, namely the WfWP.

Valuing water gains in the Eastern Cape's Working for Water Programme

Water is one of the most important measured benefits of the Working for Water Programme (WWP). This programme entails the removal of high water-consuming alien vegetation and the restoration of low water-consuming indigenous vegetation. For this reason it is crucial that the pricing of this water be an accurate reflection of its relative scarcity. This paper sheds more light on this aspect. A procedure for pricing water is described and applied in six WWP projects in the Eastern Cape province: Tsitsikamma, Kouga, Port Elizabeth Driftsands, Albany, Balfour and Pott River. It is shown that the procedure yields very different prices at the different sites, and higher prices for projects that increase river flows feeding metropolitan demand. WaterSA Vol.28(1) 2002: 23-28

Water shortage, deforestation and development: South Africa's working for water programme

AbstractIn the post‐apartheid era, South Africa is experiencing a serious water supply crisis as demand increases from both rural areas and rapidly growing towns and cities. New dams and water transfer schemes are being constructed, but they are both controversial and unlikely to fully satisfy demand. Alien species of trees and plants have invaded many parts of the country, taking over land from indigenous species. These alien species consume much more water than the indigenous vegetation, as well as threatening biodiversity and constituting a significant fire hazard. The Working for Water Programme, established in 1995, and working in partnership with local communities, aims to clear invasive alien species and thus increase water supply. The programme is examined in terms of its impact on environment and the livelihoods of predominantly poor rural communities. Questions are raised about the future sustainability of the programme. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Water shortage, deforestation and development: South Africa's working for water programme

Water shortage, deforestation and development: South Africa's working for water programme