Michelle Cocks and Tony Dold 81production system and this is reflected in the higher number of households
owning arable lands (47%), whereas in Pirie Mission only 20% acknowledged
ownership of arable fields land. No families in Pirie Mission currently utilise
their fields for cultivation, whereas 26% of the households in Cwengcwe make
regular use of their fields. However, in both villages there is some reliance on
cultivation of home gardens. For example, 80% of the households in Pirie Mission
still have access to home gardens and 72% cultivate them. Similarly, 89% of the
households in Cwengcwe have access to home gardens and 84% make use of
them on a regular basis. The majority of products from home gardens are
consumed by the household rather than sold. In Pirie Mission the gardens
contribute approximately 2.1% towards the total household income. Similarly,
in Cwengcwe the vegetables cultivated contribute approximately 2.4% of the
household total income despite the higher number of households cultivating
their fields. None of the families of RMPs own their own fields but they do
cultivate home gardens.
Households in both villages have invested in livestock. In Pirie Mission 25% of
the households have cattle, while in Cwengcwe 33% do. Livestock and poultry
products such as milk, eggs, and meat consumed within households in Pirie
Mission contribute approximately 2% of their total income. In Cwengcwe livestock-
based products contribute 5% of the average household total income. None of
the RMPs own large livestock, but the majority own some pigs and chickens.
Cash contributes significantly higher amounts to total household income than
subsistence-based products in both villages. (Cash in this instance refers to cash
earned and obtained through fixed and informal employment, pensions and
remittances.) For example, 78% of total household income in Pirie Mission is
cash, whereas in Cwengcwe cash contributes approximately 66% of households’
total income. A significant portion of the total amount of cash generated and
obtained stems from state pensions and grants.^3 For example, in Pirie Mission
35% of households’ cash income is obtained via state pensions, and in Cwengcwe
29%. These figures clearly reveal the extent to which households within these
communities rely on the state for their survival. These findings reflect the
communities’ movement away from a subsistence-based economy and towards
a cash-based economy.
Within the two villages 3.2% (n = 10) of households are involved in the
harvesting of Cassipourea bark. It appears likely that access to pensions as well
as the strong social stigma against the collection of medicinal products prohibits
more households from engaging in the activity. Gatherers frequent the forest
so regularly that they are often viewed as sorcerers. Similarly, at national
level, gatherers of medicinal plants do not have a high social status.
Of the 10 gatherers in the two communities, eight are women and two are
men. Women gatherers trade only in the informal market in King William’s
Town, whereas male gatherers commute to markets further afield and sell
their material to traders in informal markets and amayeza stores as far away
as Cape Town. Harvesting of C. flanaganii is undertaken weekly throughout
most of the year except during the rainy season. It occupies between five and
seven hours a week, including time spent harvesting other medicinal plant
materials. The only initial cost in the harvesting process is the purchase of an
axe, which costs approximately US$3.5. On average each female gatherer/05cassipourea.p65 81 22/12/2004, 11:04