Food Security & Economic Development
Regenerative farming practices.
Our rural community is abundant in natural resources. Leveraging farming can solve the area’s unemployment, food insecurity, and nutritional deficiency problems.
Thanda’s Organic Farming Initiative began in 2015 to do just this and today, Thanda’s Organic Farming Initiative aims to sustainably improve household nutrition, strengthen self-reliance, and build a local economy.
R31 million worth of produce.
We do this using regenerative farming practices through three related programmes:
Household Gardening Programme
Our Household Gardening Programme empowers over 620 local households, primarily those with children in our ECD or Education programmes, to feed their families by cultivating produce in their own backyards.
Nisela Organic Farming Programme
Thanda Agri-Hub
Central to the success of our Household Gardening and Nisela programmes is the Thanda Agri-Hub, which serves as the foundation for our operations and farmer support. It functions as a vital distribution center for seeds, seedlings, and bio-inputs, while also housing essential tools such as the biodigester, tractor, and hammermill.
Where did it start?
In South Africa, 27% of children suffer from stunting due to malnutrition. By 2013, the food security crisis became impossible to ignore, with availability and affordability posing significant challenges. While our feeding programme had always been essential, we knew broader change was needed.
That’s why we launched Nisela—to empower guardians to grow organic vegetables, ensuring their children have access to fresh, nutrient-dense food at home.
Nisela Organic Farming Programme
Inputs
Agro-ecological Approach
A holistic and sustainable method of farming that emphasizes the use of natural processes and ecosystems to enhance agricultural productivity. It integrates traditional knowledge with modern science to promote biodiversity, soil health, and ecological balance.
Locally Hired Farming Mentors & Integration of Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Individualised Mentoring & Child Care Support
Opportunity for Income Generation
Access to Regenerative Bio-inputs for Soil & Infrastructure Support
Guaranteed Market Access & Business Skills Training
Intermediate Outcomes
Sustainable Food Production
Producing food in ways that are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. This involves practices that conserve resources, minimise environmental impact, and ensure long-term food security. Beyond the social benefits of engaging in a productive livelihood, an external review from 2016-2023 showed that participants who continue in the programme can expect an average 22% growth in production year on year.
Biodiversity Preservation
Local Capacity Building & Adaptive Farm Leadership
Youth & Women Empowerment
Green Economy Growth
Increased Climate Change Resilience
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Growth
Thanda’s Nisela Organic Farming Programme nurtures adaptive farms and farmers that contribute to the growth of a thriving, resilient community.
Food insecurity has been a persistent challenge in our community, but in 2020, the crisis intensified. Lockdown led to sudden food shortages, and food parcels offered only a temporary fix. In response, we launched our Household Gardening programme to create a sustainable food security solution.
This program helps families grow their own food in back gardens—a practice lost for generations. Its success lies in simplicity: participants need only a small plot of land and the willingness to cultivate it.
To date, it has enabled households to produce R4.7 million worth of vegetables.
On a
household level
Our mentors visit farmers to impart skills. They learn about organic farming practices and how to make optimal use of their land. Most of the participants have children in our Early Learning or Education Programmes, and these children are benefitting from the nutritious food grown by their guardians. Many people in each household get involved with tending the crops and, in this way, farming knowledge is transferring organically between generations.
On a
neighbourhood level
Our organic farming mentors hold quarterly neighbourhood learning circles where skills are shared directly with farmers through interactive lessons and activities. The camaraderie built in these circles sees strong inter-farmer bonds forming between neighbours, which, per our 3 layered approach, builds resilience and longterm sustainability for the practice of farming for households locally.
Neighbours support neighbours by sharing excess produce or selling locally to keep economic circulation in the neighbourhood.
Free seedlings generate a habit of farming. As children watch their guardians provide food through farming, they internalise and grow a culture of self-reliance.
Local champions emerge who demonstrate that household gardening can provide sustainable food security and a cash income boost.