About Ruliv

PROMOTING Rural and Urban Livelihoods (RULIV) is an Eastern Cape-based organisation of multi-disciplinary professionals, which provides a wide range of services pertaining to all aspects of rural and urban development. The organisation undertakes work for a diverse range of clients including national, provincial and local government, NGO’s and the private sector. RULIV is ideally equipped to assist clients from both previously disadvantaged communities as well as established clients in the private sector.

RULIV’s qualified and professional team ensures that the most recent trends in development and planning are applied according to clients’ needs. Products and services are tailored and enhanced on a progressive basis to suit market demands without compromising ethical and professional standards.

Core Business

RULIV assists all sectors within the development planning sector. In particular, the following areas are our core competencies:

1. Agriculture Development and LED

RULIV has expertise in the management of agricultural projects, varying from primary production, agro‐processing to value‐addition initiatives. Furthermore, we are uniquely equipped to deliver management services pertaining to all aspects of agriculture in both urban and rural settings. RULIV has the experience and capacity to explore how actors formulate programmes and projects on socio-economic development, specifically those expressed through participatory approaches which operate within and between distinct constituencies in different contexts, be it at the local, provincial or national levels. RULIV promotes a number of strategic interventions which include dairy processing, wool, brick-making, crop production and local partnerships between communities and municipal LED programmes. This entails green industries and the exploitation of backward and forward economic linkages (value chain development).

2. Community-based Natural Resource Management

Practical experience coupled with theoretical expertise of RULIV’s team is used to facilitate and advise communities, development agencies and government bodies regarding catchment management, community conservancy and organic farming (including alternative livelihoods). This often involves initial programme design to effective implementation of new or appropriately amended projects.

3. Local Municipality Capacity Building and Support

RULIV provides key strategic skills to assist municipalities and local development agencies to better implement and manage their community and economic development projects. This is in addition to the technical LED support in respect of project management, spatial and development planning, strategic and business planning.

5. Communities’ Capacity Building

The most recent techniques in participatory development approaches are applied to facilitate community development in the areas of rural and urban livelihoods, socio‐economic upliftment, agriculture, land reform, LED and poverty alleviation initiatives.

6. HIV Mitigation and Meeting Policy Targets

The unit works to assist organisations and institutions to introduce a new dispensation where people and their leaders take responsibility to mitigate the effects of HIV& AIDS and to mainstream prevention within existing programmes and activities. The unit’s objectives include:

• To create an environment where people integrate HIV and AIDS mitigation measures in existing programmes and policies to reduce new infections, particularly in rural areas;

• Promoting gender equity and empowerment of women;

• To address practices such as gender-based violence against women and the abduction of children for forced marriages;

• To discourage the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and Aids through cultural activities;

• To create a sustainable environment where people are not threatened by life challenging issues, but instead are supported by local leaders in their efforts to deal with the effects HIV and Aids, living with disabilities and problems associated with the elderly; and

• To promote HIV counselling and testing through peer education programmes.

Although we divide our work into programmes it is important to note our integrated approach, which, by definition, makes much of our day-to-day work cross-cutting and interdisciplinary in scope. The organisation’s products and services cover the entire spectrum of development planning and facilitation and continual attention is given to the ongoing development of new services to enhance RULIV’s competitive edge.

Our Approach

RULIV supports and promotes participatory approaches which build empowered communities by building these approaches into all organisational work. As a registered non‐for‐profit organisation, RULIV actively seeks opportunities for capacity building as an integral part our work and the projects we are involved with.

A unique approach used by the organisation, is the recruitment and training of community members to undertake fieldwork as part of primary data gathering exercises and providing community facilitation services. RULIV has also established an extensive networking system with disenfranchised consultants, persons and service providers, utilising their services on an ongoing basis.

The creation of linkages to national strategic priorities is a fundamental principle of RULIV which is embedded in the following mission and objectives:

•         RULIV as a development organisation for best practices for the citizens of South Africa and beyond;

•         RULIV should aim to assist government departments’ strategic priorities in piloting projects for best practices through:

o    Adherence to Work Implementation Protocols (Inter‐Governmental Relations (IGR) – Framework Act);

o    Partnerships based on shared delivery modes, incorporating the public, the private and civil society sectors. This mode must prevail in the conduct of feasibility, planning, implementation management and monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects;

o    Deepening participation to promote community ability to become actively involved in managing their own development, claiming their rights, exercising their responsibilities and contributing to good governance at all levels; and

The main focus of programmes and projects to remain within the Socio‐Economic development paradigms of AsgiSA, the PGDP and IDPs).