The hard-working and passionate ecopreneurs at Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) share their knowledge and experience of food-gardening in South Africa, learning from community farmers as they go.
Heather is one of many FTFA ecopreneurs spread across the country. During winter, her day starts with scraping the ice off her car windscreen and coaxing its battery into life. She is based in rural Eastern Cape, and jokes that one of the most important parts of her job is using Google Maps.
She travels to schools and communities, holding food-gardening workshops and dropping off seedlings and learning materials. All the while, she shares her passion for food-growing with children and adults alike. The Eastern Cape is one of South Africa’s poorer provinces and has a high level of food insecurity. For many people who live there, the ability to grow food is a lifeline.
“It’s amazing to meet people who are just as passionate about growing food as I am and talking to them, connecting with them,” says Heather.
“It is a passion for me”
Another ecopreneur, Layla, facilitates food-garden projects in the Western Cape’s Garden Route. Before joining FTFA, she travelled the world – from India to Australia – learning about permaculture and community food-gardening.
“It is a passion for me,” Laylas explains. “I love working in the community.” She continues, “I get to work in a space where there is energy and people are mostly welcoming, interested and want to grow their own food. I find it hugely rewarding and it teaches me so much. And I feel privileged to be able to work in new spaces and support people growing their own food.”
This is particularly important in South Africa, with its widespread unemployment and wealth disparities. “FTFA makes these small differences where they can,” she says. “There is so much more that everyone can do to make the country a better place. I appreciate being able to be part of that.”
Support in the time of COVID-19
Food security is becoming even more important as COVID-19 squeezes people’s livelihoods and many breadwinners lose their jobs. In response, FTFA launched Grow Your Own. This initiative has distributed more than 300 000 seeds and seedlings around the country.
Limpopo-based ecopreneur Nicholus says beneficiaries are “very happy” when they receive seeds and seedlings that allow them to grow their own food. “It’s like this COVID-19 has helped the people with their gardening,” says Nic, who is a farmer himself. “When lockdown started, people didn’t just sit on their hands. They are working hard in Limpopo.”
Layla has had a similar experience on the Garden Route. Before, when she visited New Horizons township in Plettenberg Bay, people would come to her car asking for money. Now, “they are all asking me for seeds and compost”.
“It is incredible to go into so many townships as part of the Grow Your Own initiative and feel that everyone I met was really keen to grow food and learn about it,” she says.
Farmers for the future
For Heather, identifying farmers is a major strength of the Grow-Your-Own initiative, which has so far received more than 5 000 applications from individuals, schools, communities and established farmers. “It’s an extremely valuable tool to unearth and identify community farmers, gardeners and projects doing really amazing work,” she says.
“It gives us an opportunity in future to really work with beneficiaries who will make the most of what we can offer and teach others. With these focused efforts, with both parties equally committed, we will produce self-sustaining enterprises,” Heather says. This is, after all, why she became an ecopreneur in the first place: “Meeting people who are just as passionate about growing food as I am.”
Would you like to support the work our ecopreneurs are doing in vulnerable communities across South Africa through food gardening? Reach out to us today.
