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Most of the people erroneously believe that in order to create jobs massive capital investments are needed. Unemployment is, in their opinion, essentially caused by lack of money to be invested in order to create jobs.
This popular belief is incorrect. Lack of capital may influence the productivity of the job but not the number of jobs created that depends mainly from entrepreneurial skills and from the choice of applicable technologies.
Low cost technologies, as '700 European agriculture, based on natural fertilizers and animal driven agricultural implements, can be amazingly effective, when the cost of manpower is low.
As an example, by using those "obsolete" agricultural methods it is possible to obtain, on good soil, wheat crops in the region of one metric ton per hectare.
If we consider about 5 days/hectare for ploughing, 2 for harrowing, 1 for seeding, 1 for mowing and 1 for threshing it will take on average 1 working day to produce 100 Kg of wheat, roughly equivalent to the needs of one person for one year.
The wheat so obtained can be consumed simply by boiling it in soup, or crushed to make bread.
The bran (after being used to clean dishes and pots) can be used to feed chickens and pigs, so contributing to produce meat proteins.
By adding to the diet milk and dairy products, potatoes, rice, maize, poultry, rabbits, sheep, beef, fish, salads and fruit, the food requirements of an agricultural community of some thousand people can be largely satisfied with the food produced within the community itself.
At the same time a large number of jobs will be created with a minimum investment of capital. As a matter of fact a couple of ploughs, one harrow and a small threshing machine will cost a few thousand rand only and they will feed hundreds of people.
When using wood stoves for cooking, the ash produced can be used for washing, as it was done in Europe for centuries. The used water will be very good for irrigating the vegetable garden, particularly if the soil is of the acid type.
Very good brown sugar can be produced by squeezing sugar beets (in a home made press operated by a car jack) and boiling the juice to evaporate the water. The residual of the pressing it is a very good aliment for pigs.
There are literally hundreds of such low cost solutions available and their combined application will make possible for the residents of a rural community of a certain size to reach a reasonably good standard of living in a relatively short time.
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