INCOME FOR farmers in the Nqamakwe area of the Eastern Cape is set to jump from R390 000 to R1,3-million a year if an Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) – supported project is successful. A shearing tent pilot project is being run in conjunction with the National Wool Growers Association ( NWGA) and the Provincial Department of Agriculture (PDA). The goal is to improve the yield from the estimated 130 000 sheep belonging to some 500 farmers in the area through the purchase of two fully equipped shearing marquees, which will move from village to village . The ECDC is providing R150 000 loans for the marquees and the establishment of the pilot projects, while NWGA staff will act as "mentors and custodians of the equipment". NWGA’s Louis Nel says tents were used successfully in the 1950s. The main advantage over permanent shearing sheds is that the marquee can be moved from village to village. Where permanent sheds can cater for around 3 000 sheep a season before the cost of transporting the sheep to the shed becomes uneconomic, the mobile units can be kept working through the whole period. In addition, he says, the marquee can be used for church services and special occasions. The ECDC’s Pierre Leppan says the marketing mechanism for the additional clip is already in place through the appointment of a broker to transport and sell the wool. Leppan says that the goals of the project are: To determine the viability of using mobile tents for shearing, classing and packing of wool according to industry standards for marketing through the auction system; To test farmer commitment, before building shed and infrastructure; To build up farmer group savings accounts so that they can fund their own livestock improvement and infrastructure, such as dipping tanks, and so be less reliant on the State; and to see whether ECDC can use this system to generate income through loan finance via its Business Finance unit . "Should the tent pilot project work, it will be a very cost-effective way of improving income in rural areas in a very fast way. “ Leppan says that if the outcome of the project is positive, it will "spearhead" the sheep shed construction programme of the NWGA which will hopefully act as a support to the livestock improvement programme run by the Provincial Department of Agriculture. He adds that the NWGA has carried out similar projects "very successfully" and that monitoring through actual wool sales make measurement very simple. Leppan says negotiations with the farmers have revealed a willingness to pay for the service and this will be based on 70 cents a kilogram of wool. Once the loan has been repaid the marquees and equipment will become the property of the farmers associations that are being established. It is hoped that the farmers groups will continue with the 70 cents a kilogram levy, and use the money to build their own dipping tanks and to buy veterinary materials. Once dipping tanks are in place, farming practices improved and " improvements to genetics of the flocks" are introduced, it is possible that income will reach R2,6 million a year, according to Leppan. He the NWGA must take much of the credit for the project. "We are just trying to speed up the process if it is possible”. These are high impact and potentially expandable pilots. We are trying to do the obvious things better."