Micro-farming among the poor Cape Town

Abalimi has been making use of the Agriplanner Board Game, developed by the South African Institute for Entrepreneurs, to train both literate and illiterate gardeners about agricultural business. The training has been most successful, with Mrs Bokolo’s story demonstrating some of the amazing benefits of this training.

Mrs Bokolo, who continues to grow her own vegetables at Nolukhanyo Educare Preschool, has taken her new knowledge from the Agriplanner further than Abalimi had anticipated. Mrs Bokolo attended the Agriplanner training in July 2005, and she says that she uses the marketing tools that she learnt from the Agriplanner training in her own bead business. Since having done the Agriplanner training, she has gone to Claremont, Newlands and Mowbray to market her crafts herself. Her efforts were rewarded with business contracts from two shops for which she has to produce a certain amount of crafts every month.

Through the Agriplanner training, Mrs Bokolo has learnt a number of important business skills. These include how to reinvest money back into her business, to structure her money carefully, and that it is very important to meet deadlines for orders.

As a single mother, the money that Mrs Bokolo makes from her bead business is used to send her children to school and to buy groceries and furniture for her home.

Abalimi is supporting members of HIV/AIDS support groups to establish and maintain their own vegetable gardens. Vegetable gardens of this nature are currently flourishing at the Guguletu Health Clinic and the Philangetemba Khayelitsha Hospice.

In the corner of NY1 and NY3 in Nyanga, you will find beds of lush green vegetables within the premises of the Guguletu Health Clinic. This garden is run by the members of the HIV support group, Sakeka, and supported by Abalimi.

The six gardeners at Sakeka all share the status of being HIV positive. Their community garden is a safe environment where they can help each other to cope with the repercussions of being HIV positive. Through gardening, the Sakeka group are empowering themselves to tackle the devastating health affects of their illness. As project member Mxolisi Nimrod Gwele said, “My health has improved from the nutritious vegetables and exercise I get from my gardening.” The energy and spirit that these individuals have shown is truly inspirational.

Philangethemba, otherwise known as the Khayelitsha Hospice, is a support home for HIV positive people in the third and fourth stages of the disease. The Philangetemba vegetable garden is only three months old, but Pinky Ciya, the social worker, is very excited about the benefits that it has already given to the members of the support group.

In Philangetemba, the support group members participate in the gardening every Tuesday. “We use the vegetables from the garden to provide the support group with a meal when they come to visit, and members of the support group can also take some vegetables from the garden home with them,” says Pinky. “Nutrition plays a very important role in the treatment of AIDS and this way the members are learning the skills to start their own gardens at home.” “Working in a garden helps the members to learn about team work.” Pinky says, “In this garden, everyone follows the motto EACH ONE TEACH ONE.”