Food & Trees for Africa (FTA) supports food gardens to increase food security and create jobs in diverse communities across South Africa. In some cases, this means helping flourishing projects like Althea Plots to take operations to the next level and sustainably manage project growth.
Thembeni Nxumalo founded the Althea Plots Project in 2016 after her husband passed away. “I was lonely. I said, ‘Let me do something; let me start farming.’ I started very small, and when I was harvesting the crops, I realised it was really working,” she recalls. “As time went on, I involved my family and my community.”
She says farming is highly fulfilling. “I’m communicating with the land, and I’m more connected with the community. I’m proud to help them gain skills, and earn income from harvesting – whatever they need.”
One of Nxumalo’s best memories comes from 2018. “We decided our harvest was too much for the local market, so we took it to the Johannesburg market. When we saw how much money we made and that our approach was solid, we said, ‘Look at what we can do!’ That was very exciting.”
Like many farmers, Nxumalo expects more support from the current government. “The government is not helping small farmers to access land for agriculture. People want to work with land, but they don’t have their own land – they keep asking, but they don’t get help,” she emphasises. “I only have this small piece of land because my late husband bought it for me.”
Aerial view of Althea Plots
Freshly harvested organic garlic
This is directly linked, she says, to unemployment problems. “We’ve created jobs for about 10 community members working with us here in the project, but the government needs to listen to what the farmers need, so we can fight poverty, hunger and unemployment. As small farmers, we can create jobs, but only if we work together with the government,” she reiterates.
Nxumalo says a lack of infrastructure was a major initial challenge. “The farm didn’t even have a fence; there was no proper security. We had a lot of problems with livestock coming onto the farm and destroying what we planted,” she explains.
When the project was approved for funding from Fortress REI, through FTA in 2019, Nxumalo says: “That was the beginning of our problems being solved. First, FTA installed a reservoir that holds about 800,000 litres of water and a pack house complete with a solar system. They helped with the fence, weighing scales, and a mobile fridge, as well as working tools. Now, we can store produce safely after harvesting.”
“Since we upgraded the infrastructure, we have seen a lot of improvement. We are harvesting more, we are producing more vegetables, and we are taking more produce to the market.”
She also highlights skills training, including jam-making from the fruit orchard and how to package the produce properly. “We can harvest more now – we used to pack around 80 boxes, now we can take more than 100 boxes to the market,” she elaborates.
Thembeni Nxumalo
Thembeni Nxumalo with her team of community members
Permaculture and agroecology training has been a critical success for the community. “We have learnt from FTA, so we can help with skills training: people who want to do farming, and process food – and we invite the youth to come and learn. The people that we train go back to teach their families,” Nxumalo says.
Althea Plots even has a former student who is now an FTA facilitator for the permaculture training courses. “He trains his own community – it is such a good example and encourages others that they can make something of themselves,” beams Nxumalo.
She also highlights skills training, including jam-making from the fruit orchard and how to package the produce properly. “We can harvest more now – we used to pack around 80 boxes, now we can take more than 100 boxes to the market,” she elaborates.
See the full story of Thembeni’s journey and the growth of the Althea Plots Project in our video.
