The Green Food Project
Securing long term Food Supplies
The Green Food Project is focussed on growing vegetables using an innovative design, Tower Vegetable Gardens (TVGs), that have been developed for use in communities like Ngqushwa where drought limits the ability to people to grow vegetables at all.
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The Green Food Project centres on establishing food security, income generation and environmental sustainability
The Green Food Project is centred not only on the establishment of Tower Vegetable Gardens for households, but to turn them into an income generating, green business.
It is focussed on establishing an holistic system where TVGs are combined with seedling nurseries and marketing skills to create food security for communities.
The project combines building the capacity of communities to manage the challenges of climate change, with learning business and horticultural skills and maintaining an sustainable livelihood in rural areas.
The Green Food Project In 4 steps
Step 1: The PWG
As part of Siyakhana, Ubunye's Governance system, Programme Working Groups meet to discuss the challenges in communities and work together on a way forward.
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The most critical challenge currently is food security. So together, Ubunye and the communities came up with The Green Food Project - a holistic approach to community food security.
Step 2: Selecting Where?
Two types of location were prioritised for the initial Green Food Project start-ups:
01. ECD centres - where food security could be focused on the most vulnerable - children under 5 years at risk of stunting.
02. Savings & Livelihoods groups - where women could lead in establishing food security in their communities.
Step 3: Getting going
Ubunye staff work with community members to prepare the sites and with the supplies build the Tower Vegetable Gardens and Seedling Nurseries.
At the locations the community learn how to maintain and run the system and are given start-up packs of vegetable seedlings and seeds.
Step 4: Establishing the circle
Ubunye staff coach and mentor the community to replenish the TVGs with the seedlings, harvest and market the surplus vegetables for sale locally and set up their green business.
The goal is to ensure a constant supply of vegetables for their own use and supply of surplus vegetables to the local community, and generation of enough funds through selling this surplus to buy food staples like flour, oil, salt etc. and more seeds where required.
Is this something you would like to be part of?
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Do you want to make a difference?
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Come & join in!
Here's how:
01
Donation of the items needed to start up The Green Food Project at each location:
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Seeds,
Shade cloth,
Wooden poles,
Seed trays
Seedling and start-up compost
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02
Donate funds to ensure that 64 more communities, in Ngqushwa have access to fresh vegetables, 211 families and 45 ECD centres are self sufficient in food and able to generate income to cover the cost of other food supplies.
Thank you for your support!
WHAT DO WE COMMIT TO DELIVER
A direct link for you to see what your support is achieving. through blogs, live links, and opportunities to visit the Project areas.
Train, mentor and establish long term entrepreneurial skills amongst women enabling them to generate a sustainable income, sustainable food supplies for their family and community.
Ensure implementation of community food security in Wards 7, 9 and 10 of Ngqushwa Municipality covering a population of around 32,000 people including 13 000 children under the age of 5 years.
Oversee the establishment of approximately 256 permanent Green Food Businesses which will include TVG vegetable production and sale and seedling nurseries and sale.