report on a skills audit - conservation … on a skills audit undertaken for the succulent karoo...

REPORT ON A SKILLS AUDIT

Undertaken for

The Succulent Karoo Ecosystem Programme community conservation

and development small grants fund (Skeppies): selected projects from

CitiGroup building resilience to climate change.

Compiled by:

Amanda Bourne

Project Officer

Climate Action Partnership

March 2011

Table of Contents

Table of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4

Summary of findings ............................................................................................................................... 5

Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 7

Skills Audit Results - General................................................................................................................... 8

Skills Audit Results – Skeppies Projects ................................................................................................ 14

Namakwaland Kookskerms ............................................................................................................... 14

Pofadder Extreme Adventures – Khai-Ma Hiking Trail ..................................................................... 16

Karkhams Technology Crafters ......................................................................................................... 17

Garden of Hope ................................................................................................................................. 18

Outcomes ............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Number of people in each organisation with a formal secondary .......................................... 9

Figure 2: Number of people in each organisation with a formal tertiary education .............................. 9

Figure 3: Total number of people with additional training................................................................... 10

Figure 4: Skills development and training ............................................................................................. 11

Figure 5: Percentages of practical knowledge and skills amongst participants ................................... 12

Figure 6: The number of people with skills and knowledge competencies .......................................... 12

Figure 7: A comparison between level of formal education and levels of practical competency ........ 13

Figure 8: Kookskerm skills and training levels ...................................................................................... 15

Figure 9: Khai-Ma Hiking Trail skills and training levels ........................................................................ 16

Figure 10: Karkhams Technology Crafters skills and training levels ..................................................... 17

Figure 11: Garden of Hope skills and training levels ............................................................................. 18

December 2010 Skeppies Building Resilience to Climate

Introduction

Climate scientists predict that Namaqualand will be one of the areas in South Africa hardest hit by climate

change. The semi-desert region is expected to experience higher coastal and inland temperatures, resulting in

undesirably higher levels of evaporation, and changes in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events,

such as droughts and storms. The Succulent Karoo veld is already resource scarce in terms of water availability,

soil fertility, and agricultural productivity and under immense pressure from human activities. Should the

expected climate change impacts occur, the region is likely to become increasingly stressed, with consequences

for the people whose lives depend on these natural resources.

Skeppies is the Succulent Karoo Ecosystems Programme community conservation and development small

grants fund working in the Northern Cape, working with small conservation based businesses and community

conservation projects. The Citigroup Foundation has allocated funding for selected Skeppies projects around

building resilience to climate change. The fund originally engaged in climate change capacity building with ten

such projects focussing on the development of sustainable adaptation solutions in a context of climate change,

and has focused mainly on small businesses initiatives. Climate change adaptation addresses the effects of

climate change, is primarily a local issue, and focuses on building resilience and reducing vulnerability for both

people and the environment.

The Building Resilience to Climate Change project has thus far focused on:

1. raising climate change awareness and providing input on climate change impacts;

2. providing information and assistance on adaptation tools;

3. building the basic ecological knowledge and competencies of participating groups and individuals;

4. building climate resilience into business plans and mentoring this process;

5. encouraging climate monitoring (rainfall, temperature, and climate variability) through the use of climate

diaries; and

6. carrying out follow up monitoring and evaluation on progress made.

The next phase includes follow up workshops on small business management, training on the impacts of climate

change and available climate change adaptation opportunities and tools, and the application of climate

adaptation technologies such as grey water recycling, water storage, and alternative energy.

Skeppies conducted a skills audit in May 2010 as part of the second Building Resilience to Climate Change

workshop in Kamieskroon. This audit was intended to identify the existing skills of the people involved and

assess these against skills needs and requirements. Eight of the ten selected Skeppies projects participated in the

skills audit. This report summarises the outcomes of the skills audit, highlighting the gaps in the skills base of

participants that were identified and then used to inform the building resilience workshop held in Port Nolloth in

March 2011.


Summary of findings

The results of the skills audit presented in this report are drawn from a short questionnaire survey

completed by nineteen participants as part of the second Building Resilience to Climate Change

workshop, held in Kamieskroon in May 2010. The outcomes of the survey are summarised as follows:

Tertiary education, employment, and access to additional formal training are interlinked. All

employed participants had completed additional skills training in the identified categories, as

had two thirds of those with a tertiary qualification.

Practical competence, knowledge and skills are not necessarily directly linked to formal

training. While many participants did not have high levels of education, an average of 82% of

participants had some knowledge and skills in the included categories which they had learned

from experience, self-taught, or been shown by others.

The Skeppies projects (Kookskerms, Kelpcor, Khai-Ma hiking trail, Karkhams Technology

Crafters, Garden of Hope and the Anatolian Dogs breeding scheme) often had one or two key

members who were particularly skilled while the other members had few skills. Such

concentration of capacity is unsustainable in the long-term and efforts must be made to build

the capacity, knowledge, and skills of the other members in such projects.

Some of the Skeppies project members demonstrated very low levels of business and

ecotourism marketing and management skills.

Skeppies project members regularly demonstrated low levels of confidence in their abilities.

This is the case even where respondents had received some formal training in the particular

skills category.

The skills audit did not reflect the other kinds of skills that respondents have beyond business

management and ecotourism.

Further business management and environmental training is required for some of the Skeppies

projects that took part in the skills audit. What is even more critical, however, is follow up

support, guidance, and assistance to build project member’s confidence in the skills they have

acquired or already possess.

The skills audit analysis presented here clearly identifies Garden of Hope and Karkhams Technology

Crafters as the projects in the most urgent need of further training and skills development across the

full range of skills sets. Khai-Ma hiking trail and the Kookskerms would benefit most from

confidence and capacity building interactions with the Skeppies team, interactions that support and

guide the project members as they become more comfortable with and effective at the new sets of

skills they have acquired. Skeppies could also be of service by encouraging and facilitating the


distribution of skills amongst project members. The Anatolian Dog project and Kelpcor already show

high levels of competence, knowledge and skill and would benefit most from Skeppies playing a

monitoring and evaluation and consulting role in their businesses. The other respondents in the skills

audit are not beneficiaries of the Skeppies programme but were useful to include for comparative

purposes.


Methodology

The Skeppies team identified categories of skills and knowledge relevant to the selected participating

organisations, including topics such as marketing and communications, tourism, and book-keeping. The team

created a questionnaire for participants to fill in. Participants were asked to respond on their competence levels

in each category as well as their participation in any formal skills development or training on each of the

subjects.

During the second Building Resilience to Climate Change workshop in Kamieskroon in May 2010, the Skeppies

team administered a short survey. The sample consisted of nineteen workshop participants, 15 of which were

members of one of the Skeppies projects, who all completed short skills audit questionnaires. Respondents were

asked to state their level of education, identify any additional formal training they had participated in according

to categories provided, and rate their level of competence in each category in terms of practical knowledge and

skills as either ‘poor’, ‘reasonable’, or ‘very good’.

Unfortunately, the questionnaire did not capture demographic data such as age, sex, race, employment status,

number of dependents, or home language. Further surveying of the projects will attempt to capture such data as

well.


Skills Audit Results - General

Nineteen people participated in the skills audit. Participants from within the selected Skeppies projects

numbered five from the various Namaqualand Kookskerms , one from Port Nolloth’s kelp harvesting company,

Bravo Pro, two from the Anatolian Dog breeding project at Namaqua National Park, two from Pofadder

Extreme Adventure’s Khai-Ma hiking trail, three from Karkhams Technology Crafters, and two from Garden of

Hope. Three representatives of local government LED and one from Kamiesberg Tourism also participated.

Note that not all participants responded on all questions, with the result that the skills audit outcomes reflect the

responses of 14-19 people.

The skills audit assessed formal education and skills training as well as levels of applied practical and

experiential knowledge.

The questionnaire evaluated these levels formal education and skills training in terms of the following

categories:

Secondary education

Tertiary education

Financial training

Business skill/management training

Marketing training

Fundraising training

Computer literacy training

Client management and liaison training

Tourism qualifications

Environmental qualifications or training

The assessment in terms of practical and experiential knowledge evaluated participants’ skills in terms of the

following categories:

Secondary education

Financial knowledge or experience

Business development or management knowledge or experience

Marketing knowledge or experience

Fundraising knowledge or experience

Practical computer literacy

Client management and liaison knowledge or experience

Tourism knowledge or experience

Environmental and conservation knowledge or experience


This chapter presents the finding on formal education and experiential knowledge in turn, also looking at each

of the criteria, and uses graphs to summarise the data presented. It concludes with a breakdown of skills and

skills development needs in each of the participating Skeppies projects.

Of the nineteen respondents, eight (42%) have no formal education beyond primary school level. Of those who

have higher qualifications, eleven have completed secondary school with eight going on to complete a further

tertiary qualification. Of those with a formal tertiary qualification, five (63%) are employed in one of the

participating government agencies (SANParks is included here for analysis purposes) with only three tertiary

qualified peopled directly self-employed in one of the Skeppies small-grants projects. The bar graphs below

show the distribution of secondary and tertiary education across the participating organisations:

Figure 1: Number of people in each organisation with a formal secondary

Figure 2: Number of people in each organisation with a formal tertiary education

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Nu

mb

er o

f p

eop

le

Secondary yes

Secondary no

0

1

2

3

4

5

6 Tertiary yes

Tertiary no


In addition to formal qualifications, many of the participants had received additional skills

development and training with the result that some participants may have received training other than

formal secondary or tertiary education. For example, one member of the Garden of Hope who had not

completed secondary school had received basic financial training and some of the Kookskerm

members, most of whom had not completed secondary school, had completed business management,

client management/ liaison, and marketing training. In most cases however, and as the graph in Figure

4 on the next page clearly demonstrates, skills training was linked with or in addition to secondary

and/or tertiary qualifications. All of those in formal employment (e.g. SANParks or local government)

demonstrated skills training in addition to their formal qualifications. Of those participants self-

employed in Skeppies projects, only 58% had undergone additional skills development training.

The most widespread skills training found in the sample group was in the ‘Client Management and

Liaison’ category (just over 50%). Significant numbers of participants had also completed Financial

Management and Book-keeping, Marketing and Communication, and Computer training (eight in

each category) and Business Management and Tourism (seven in each category). Five people each

had also participated in some Fundraising and/or Environmental skills development. Figure 3 below

shows the total number of skills audit participants who have undergone training in each of the

identified categories. Figure 4 overleaf shows the numbers of participants who have received skills

development and training in addition to or in place of formal education. It also compares this

information with the numbers of people in each skills development category who also have secondary

and/or tertiary education.

Figure 3: Total number of people with additional training

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Nu

mb

er o

f p

eop

le


Figure 4: Skills development and training

While many participants did not have high levels of education, the skills audit found that most

participants had some knowledge and skills in the above categories which they had learned from

experience, self-taught, or been shown by others. An average of 82% of participants had some

practical competence and applied knowledge in the skills categories identified. For example, while

the Kookskerms demonstrated low levels of formal training amongst members, several members

showed reasonable practical competence in many of the skills areas such as fundraising, marketing,

tourism, and the environment. The graph in Figure 5 overleaf demonstrates the percentages of

participants with knowledge and practical skills in addition to or over and above formal education and

training. Figure 6 breaks this down into a bar graph showing the numbers of participants with various

levels of skills and knowledge competencies.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12N

um

ber

of

peo

ple

Education and training skills in people taking part in SKEPPIES projects, n = 14-19 respondants between 8 projects

Skills training

With secondary education

With tertiary education


Figure 5: Percentages of practical knowledge and skills amongst participants

Figure 6: The number of people with skills and knowledge competencies

Finally, Figure 7 shows a comparison by category between the numbers of participants in the skills

audit who claimed formal education and training and those who claimed practical skills and

knowledge. In every category, more participants claimed some practical competency in each category

than had received formal training. A minimum of 73% and maximum of 84% of respondents in each

category had some level of practical competency.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Education and skills knowledge of people taking part in SKEPPIES projects, n = 14-19 respondants between 8 projects

Very good

Some

None

0

2

4

6

8

10

12 Poor knowledge

Reasonable knowledge

Very good knowledge


Figure 7: A comparison between level of formal education and levels of practical competency

The averaged results discussed above do not reflect levels of competence and skills development

within each of the projects however. Some of the participating projects demonstrated a distinct lack of

formal education and training and experiential knowledge and competency. The next section of the

report looks at the skills and training levels in each of the Skeppies projects assessed: the

Kookskerms, Kelpcor, Khai-Ma Hiking Trail, Karkhams Technology Crafters, and the Garden of

Hope.

02468

1012141618

Skills training

Knowledge


Skills Audit Results – Skeppies Projects

Two Skeppies Building Resilience projects – Kelpcor and the Anatolian Dogs breeding scheme –

have relatively high level of formal training and other skills. The single representative from Kelpcor

had completed secondary school and had formal training in financial management and book-keeping,

business management, marketing and communications, computer literacy, client management, and

tourism. The two participants from the Anatolian Dogs breeding scheme at SANParks both had

tertiary qualifications and training and experience in all of the categories assessed in the skills audit.

These projects will not be discussed further here.

Skills gaps and training needs were identified in the remaining projects. Each has been dealt with as a

particular case below with an overview included in the conclusion to the report.

Namaqualand Kookskerms

Five people from the various Namaqualand Kookskerms participated in the skills audit process. Of these, only

one person has completed secondary education, with none going on to tertiary level. While the formal skills in

the group are very limited and concentrated in one or two people, Kookskerm members had relatively high

levels of experiential knowledge and practical skill. Three out of the five claimed practical knowledge or skills

in most of the categories other than formal education. The only exceptions were computer skills and fundraising,

of which only two felt reasonably competent. Most of the time, however, Kookskerm members indicated that

their level of competence in these skill sets was ‘reasonable’ rather than ‘very good’. In fact, only one member

felt ‘very good’ at environmental and tourism skills with no-one classifying their level of skill as very good in

any of the other categories, despite sometimes having had formal training in that area. For example, while two

kookskerm members had received formal training in marketing and communications, they still classified their

level of practical skill in this forum as ‘reasonable’ rather than ‘very good’.

This suggests low levels of confidence in their ability to perform the kinds of tasks associated with the skill sets

identified. It also indicates that further training and follow-up monitoring and assistance is required to boost the

confidence and capacity of trained and experienced people and to assist those who are unskilled and/or

untrained to develop relevant skills. Figure 8 (next page) shows the level of formal training and practical skills

amongst Kookskerm members who participated in the skills audit. Bear in mind that the graph may be

misleading because some level of competence and training does not appear to directly translate into confidence

amongst kookskerm members in their ability to perform tasks related to the identified skills sets.


Figure 8: Kookskerm skills and training levels

In the Kookskerms, further fundraising and computer skills training is required as only two of the five

participants have any basic skills in these areas, formal or experiential and even then, their confidence

in their abilities is given as ‘reasonable’ rather than ‘very good’. Likewise, business management

skills such as book-keeping, marketing, communications, and client management, while showing

some competence, would benefit from continued assistance and support. It is possible that the

member with a high level of competence in tourism and environmental skills could support the other

members but there is also room to expand these skills sets amongst other members.

0

1

2

3

4

5

Kookskerms

Formal

Experiential


Pofadder Extreme Adventures – Khai-Ma Hiking Trail Two members of the Khai-Ma Hiking Trail projects, based at Onseepgans and managed from

Pofadder, participated in the skills audit. One member has extensive skills including tertiary education

and further formal training and experience in basic financial and business management, marketing,

fundraising, client management, and tourism as well as some learned practical computer skills and

environmental knowledge. This member described her skills level mostly as ‘very good’. The other

participating member has no formal education or training at all, but some practical client

management, business, and marketing skills, all defined as ‘reasonable’. Again, one member’s

substantial skills base drives the project. This is not necessarily sustainable in the long-term and

Skeppies should aim to build the capacity of the other project members as well.

The graph below shows the level of formal and practical skills held by Khai-Ma Hiking Trail project

members.

Figure 9: Khai-Ma Hiking Trail skills and training levels

0

1

2

Hiking Trail

Formal

Experiential


Karkhams Technology Crafters Karkhams Technology Crafters showed extremely low levels of skills as defined by the skills audit –

mostly business management and eco-tourism related. The members are, however, all skilled

craftsmen, specialising in woodwork, skills which are not reflected in this skills audit. In terms of

their business management and eco-tourism skills, only one in three of the participating members

has completed secondary school and is computer literate. None of the members have received any

formal training in business or eco-tourism related fields. Furthermore, none of the members have

any practical skills in any of the business management or tourism skills categories and also do not

feel knowledgeable about the environment. The graph below depicts the KTC skills set.

Figure 10: Karkhams Technology Crafters skills and training levels

KTC members clearly highlighted in the skills audit their need for further skills development and

training in all of the identified skills categories for all of the project members.

0

1

2

3

Karkhams Technology Crafters

Formal

Experiential


Garden of Hope Two members of the Garden of Hope participated in the skills audit process. Again, only one of them

had finished secondary school and was computer literate. Both members had received formal training

in financial management and book-keeping, and one had completed additional training in business

management, marketing, and client management. Confidence in their abilities was, however,

extremely low. One member described her level of confidence in her book-keeping and financial

management skills as ‘reasonable’ but both members claimed low levels of competence in all the

other skills categories, often despite having completed some formal training. The graph below

demonstrates the level of skills and competencies embedded in the Garden of Hope project members

who participated in the survey.

Figure 11: Garden of Hope skills and training levels

Garden of Hope project members clearly used the skills assessment process to highlight in their low

level of confidence in their business management and eco-tourism skills, even following some formal

training. Their responses indicate a need for further skills development, training, and support in all of

the identified skills categories for all of the participating project members.

0

1

2

Garden of Hope

Formal

Experiential


Discussion and conclusions

The skills audit results presented here are derived from a short questionnaire survey completed by the

19 participants at the second Building Resilience to Climate Change workshop, held in Kamieskroon

in May 2010. The results can be summarised as follows:

The skills audit demonstrated that tertiary education, employment, and access to additional

formal training are interlinked. All employed participants had completed additional skills

training in the identified categories, as had two thirds of those with a tertiary qualification.

Practical competence, knowledge and skills are not necessarily directly linked to formal

training. While many participants did not have high levels of education, an average of 82% of

participants had some knowledge and skills in the above categories which they had learned

from experience, self-taught, or been shown by others.

The Skeppies projects (Kookskerms, Kelpcor, Khai-Ma hiking trail, Karkhams Technology

Crafters, Garden of Hope and the Anatolian Dogs breeding scheme) often had one or two

members who were particularly skilled while the other members had few skills. Khai-Ma

hiking trail is a good example. This situation is unsustainable in the long-term and efforts

must be made to build the capacity, knowledge, and skills of the other members in such

projects.

Some of the Skeppies project members demonstrated very low levels of skills, particularly

Karkhams Technology Crafters and the Garden of Hope.

The respondents from within the Skeppies projects frequently demonstrated low levels of

confidence in their abilities. This is the case even where respondents had received some

formal training in the particular skills category. For example, although both the participating

members of Garden of Hope had received formal training on financial management, budgets,

and book-keeping, they did not feel fully competent in these skills, grating their level of

ability as ‘poor’ and ‘reasonable’ respectively, rather than ‘very good’.

The skills audit did not reflect the other kinds of skills that respondents have beyond business

management and ecotourism. Karkhams Technology Crafters, for example, showed very low

levels of knowledge and skills according to the categories selected. All the members are,

however, skilled carpenters and craftsmen.

Further business management and environmental training is required for many of the

Skeppies projects that took part in the skills audit, particularly for the Garden of Hope and

Karkhams Technology Crafters. What may be more critical, however, is follow up support,


guidance, and assistance to build project member’s confidence in the skills they already

possess.

The skills audit clearly identified Garden of Hope and Karkhams Technology Crafters as in the most

urgent need of further training and skills development addressing all the skills sets assessed. Khai-Ma

hiking trail and the Kookskerms would benefit most from confidence and capacity building

interactions with the Skeppies team, interactions that support the project members as they become

more comfortable with and effective at the new sets of skills they have acquired and facilitate the

sharing of skills amongst project members. The Anatolian Dog project and Kelpcor show high levels

of knowledge and skill and would benefit most from Skeppies playing a monitoring and evaluation

and consulting role in their businesses. The other respondents in the skills audit are beneficiaries of

the Skeppies programme but were useful for comparative purposes.

Since the skills audit, Skeppies and Conservation South Africa have been working with Karkhams

Technology Crafters and Garden of Hope to try to resolve some of their management difficulties. This

process is ongoing. The team also included a session on narrative and financial reporting at the Port

Nolloth workshop in March 2011. In 2011, Conservation South Africa will be developing a business

toolkit which project implementers will be trained on and be able to refer to for the successful

management of their businesses. Conservation South Africa’s Skeppies Project Developer is also

developing a ‘peer mentor’ concept whereby some of the more skilled Skeppies project implementers

will be capacitated to train, support, and monitor the less skilled, confident, or competent project

implementers in the programme.

report on a skills audit - conservation … on a skills audit undertaken for the succulent karoo...

Documents