The People’s Farm
We started our sustainable community garden project in March 2020. What began with preparing a small patch of land behind our office space grew into replanting seedlings to our community garden, envisioned as "The People's Farm".
The intention and priority of the farm were to grow fresh produce and use it as part of our Food Campaign, either to prepare cooked meals or to divide and add it to our food parcels. Fresh vegetables have an excellent nutritional value and can help ensure that the people we support maintain some balance in their diet.
We have a few of our own men helping maintain the vegetable garden. We hope to keep this going long term. This means that Usiko will have a sustainable option for future Food campaigns, support our Aftercare programs, and support our own staff and the larger community.
The people's farm will not just be a vegetable farm. It will be a multifunctional hub where the community can engage and benefit from skills building, access a safe and inclusive space, participate in workshops, learn about the environment, and gather for celebrations.
Our vision for the farm is that it will be the following:
A space to foster innovation and local livelihoods by building skills and capacities through project-based learning and mobilising resources for community-driven economic development.
Safe, open, and inclusive space to advocate for the vulnerable and give a voice to marginalised community members.
Dynamic experiential educational space for workshops and courses where local and eventually international participants can learn, collaborate, and share experiences.
Regenerative space seeks to heal and build connections with the local ecosystem and preserve essential indigenous knowledge of the local flora and fauna.
Grower and producer of food using sustainable agroecological techniques to feed children from Usiko's programs and Usiko's youth wilderness camps).
Space that celebrates the cultural roots of the region, including traditional indigenous cultures. It will also be a space for community gatherings and harvest festivals, and other cultural celebrations.
Before our recent harvest. Image taken by Lizelle Lötter.
We hope that the farm will become a nourishing space in the community. Community members can collectively work together to produce healthy food while nourishing our collective need to connect with others by contributing to a common project. "Despite the hardships we are all facing, there is fertile ground to not only grow food but also grow a more resilient community food system," expressed Zach Lager – former Sibanye Coordinator.
We are excited about our Spring planting. The farm has made significant progress in the last few months. We're preparing more land, setting up the water tank and irrigation system and planting citrus trees sponsored by Clemen Gold. We have also used the farm for celebrations of June 16th and March 20th and cannot wait for more opportunities. Watch the start of The People's Farm here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuAtIB3Tf7A
