Abstract
The article aims to provide an assessment of the Letshabo Cooperative
Vegetable Project (LCVP), an initiative developed in line with the local
economic development (LED) strategy of the Greater Taung Local
Municipality (GTLM) in the North West province of South Africa (SA),
in order to determine the project’s achievement or lack thereof, of its intended
short- to medium-term objectives. These objectives include: creation
of jobs for local community members in the vicinity of the project;
getting more community members involved in retail vegetable businesses;
increasing the availability of fresh, quality produce in the vicinity of the
project; and increasing household incomes for project beneficiaries. On
that account, an evaluation was conducted of the LCVP, the findings of
which are presented in this article. Based on these findings, the article
makes recommendations on the possible mitigation of identified problems
and challenges.