Swish, swish, swish. It’s all the rage. Eco-fashionistas, this is for you. There are two swishing events happening in the next little while, one in London (UK) and one in Cape Town (RSA). See their details below. Incase you can’t… Read More »Interesting green events in London and Cape Town
If I was in London this weekend, COPArt is where I’d like to be. COPArt Live! Bank Holiday Monday (3 May, 10.30am) Londoners interested in the environment and looking for some bank holiday fun are invited to attend a free… Read More »COPArt Live!
If you’re in Cape Town this Friday, consider joining the Chernobyl Day Commemoration in Plein Street, outside parliament. [ad#google]
I got an email from Sarah at the Sierra Club this morning saying that 25 finalists have been chosen for “The best internship on earth” that I wrote about here a while back. I’ve been watching the finalists videos, and… Read More »The best internship on earth: finalists
We are moving in a few months, and a couple of nights ago my hubby and I were discussing the possibility of planting indigenous saplings on the bare patch of earth that is opposite our new house, both to cancel… Read More »Pimp your pavement
Here’s a head’s up on a new, exciting opportunity from the Sierra Club that could just be The Best Internship on Earth. One lucky young person will get to spend this summer travelling around the US to Sierra Club’s outdoor youth… Read More »The best internship on earth
During the recent UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen our world leaders failed to agree on a climate deal. But we all know it’s not only up to them and there are plenty of things that we mere mortals can do… Read More »I do 30 – do you?
We’re giving away two tickets to see ‘Radical Nature‘ at the Barbican in London. It’s the first exhibition to bring together key figures across different generations who have created utopian works and inspiring solutions for our ever-changing planet. Radical Nature… Read More »Win tickets to see ‘Radical Nature’ at the Barbican
One Tuesday a few weeks ago I accompanied Duncan Drennan (The Art of Engineering), Duncan’s beautifully pregnant wife Donne, Pia Taylor (Mother City Living), Stefan (a lecturer in applied mathematics at Stellenbosch) and Ruan (a helicopter pilot in training) on a tour of the Fezeka community garden in Gugulethu and the Harvest of Hope packing shed in Phillipi. Both the Fezeka garden (one of many community gardens) and Harvest of Hope form part of the Abalimi Bezekhaya organisation that assists urban farmers to produce food for themselves, their families and communities and to sell their surplus crops.
We started the tour at the BP service station on Rosmead Avenue where we were met by Rob Small, a friendly and enthusiastic man who works tirelessly to bring in funds for Abalimi, as well as running regular Tuesday morning tours of the gardens in a bid to win over more supporters to the project. Rob overflows with passion for the Abalimi project and what it is doing for people in Cape Town’s townships. His enthusiasm is infectious and seeps into everything he says.
Rob lead the way into Gugulethu and Fezeka, where he explained how 40% of the residents of Cape Town’s informal settlements are unemployed, and where there’s poverty, there is also hunger. The core business of Abalimi is to combat poverty by growing food sustainably (and organically) both at home and in community gardens, and to further green the township areas by planting water wise indigenous trees in the schools and streets of the area. Rob explained that when the Abalimi project started 15 years ago, their aim was to help people achieve subsistence from their growing activities. These days they have surpassed that and are aiming at providing a livelihood for those who before had a hard time even feeding themselves.
We were shown around Fezeka Garden and met some of the mama’s who run the place. There are very few men involved in growing community gardens on the Cape Flats, the majority of the farmers are women.
We were able to take photographs of the gardens and ask Rob questions about how Abalimi facilitates the creation of these food gardens. He explained that Abalimi “subsidises” the farmers to the tune of R150 per farmer per month (that’s around US $15 a month) by providing training, manure and set-up and maintenance of an irrigation system for each garden. This figure is much, much lower than the subsidies provided by government to commercial farmers. Abalimi also helps the farmers gain access to council land and negotiates on their behalf to obtain access to water, for example.
From Fezeka we moved on to the Harvest of Hope packing shed in Phillipi. Harvest of Hope is the marketing and selling arm of Abalimi. They collect the vegetables from the farmers once a week and take them back to the packing shed to wash and prepare for delivery. The vegetables make up weekly organic vegetable boxes that are distributed via some of Cape Town’s southern suburbs schools. (It is possible to buy a Harvest of Hope veg box even if you don’t have children at one of the selected schools, see below for more details).
I was blown away by the amazing fresh smell as we walked into the packing shed. It was a beautiful experience.
Read More »Abalimi Bezekhaya: Cape Town’s urban organic farmers