South Africa has the largest economy in Africa with good potential to tackle poverty and inequality. However it faces a number of development challenges. Not all of the sectors of the economy have increased at the same speed resulting in low agricultural sector output, high unemployment and a growth in income disparity. As a result there exists huge inequality.

In 2005 the Co-operatives Development Act was passed in South Africa laying the foundation for an enabling environment for cooperative development. Co-operatives are seen as key vehicles for building local economies and sustainable development initiatives in communities, enabling local producers to participate in the economy. We supported the establishment of one such cooperative, AGAPE Skills for Development, an emergent community co-operative organizer and training provider to small-scale cooperatives in Durban and rural villages in KwaZulu-Natal. We partnered with AGAPE to provide organisational development and help build its membership in the province.