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In the communities of Thekwane and Mgundeni in KwaZulu-Natal, women are taking control of their livelihoods and building community through farming thanks to support from the WWF Nedbank Green Trust.
To manage climate change and mitigate disasters, the WWF Nedbank Green Trust is funding multiple projects in our rural communities that will increase food production and livelihood security while also growing South Africa's protected areas.
“Our lives have changed a lot since taking part in this programme. In our community, most of the homes are made of mud. After being part of this programme, we managed to save money and rebuilt some of our homes properly with building blocks and we are now less worried about weather changes as we have strong houses’’ says Ms Phumzile Msibi of Ukuthanda Ukukhanya CPA who has been part of the programme since 2014.
The project themed 'Enabling community resource security and protected area expansion in a post-COVID-19 future’ targets rural women in protected areas teaching them Agroecology (organic farming) which is practised in harmony with the natural environment.
“We look at how we can assist the people in those areas and encourage them to take care of their natural resources. Because you cannot tell someone to take care of a wetland or stream because there might be a rare bird nesting in that area while they aren’t able to feed their family. That is why we encourage them to farm sustainably. We provide the resources and then allow the people to take care of and upkeep the area,” says Ayanda Cele, WWF-SA Manager of the Land Reform & Biodiversity Stewardship Programme.
The Green Trust is funded through the Nedbank Green Affinity Programme, which has so far helped raise more than R300 million to support over 200 diverse environmental projects throughout South Africa.
“The farmers receive training in agroecology and financial management. They engage in sharing their skills and equipment and are introduced to networks to boost their ability to survive, adapt and thrive in the face of current and future challenges,” says Tobie Badenhorst, Head of Group Sponsorships and Cause Marketing at Nedbank.
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In KZN the programme has formally declared the Mkhothane Community a Protected Environment which spans 2 600 hectares.
“The biggest change we have seen in our community is that a lot of people now can start and maintain their gardens. Community members and representatives not previously involved with the project have now asked to join us and work with us so that we can show them how to start their own gardens. They can see that what we are doing is taking us and our family towards a better life, so they see the good that the programme is doing for us,” Msibi says.
“This has encouraged us to work even harder because of all these donations. There has been a huge difference in how we work as a community to improve our lives and not worry about not having a job. It has motivated the community's people to work hard and reap the benefits of their own land,” she continues.
Cele says empowering women in the agricultural and conservation sector has far-reaching implications.
“The work of women in our sector is very important because they are still the centre of the home and will most often dedicate their funds to taking care of their homes and their dependents and so secure the health and well-being of their communities,” Cele says.
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This post was sponsored by Nedbank and produced by Adspace Studio.
