Durban North NPO goes from giving to growing with ‘mini farms’

DURBAN North based NPO, Ubuntu Army is introducing Ubuntu Farms, a new project which aims to go from ‘giving to growing’ by empowering people to transition away from reliance on food hampers, to begin growing their own food.

The organisation, which started in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, has focused on delivering food hampers to refugees stranded in Durban when the South African boarder was shut during the lockdown as well as families struggling to survive amidst pay cuts and job losses brought on by the lockdown.

Through their Facebook page, Ubuntu Link, 6000 families are being linked up with donors while the Ubuntu Army page gives donors a platform to network with others and further their efforts.

Now, founder, Clint Mclean and his son, Fin McLEan are developing ‘mini farms’ to empower people to grow food in small spaces.

Also read: ‘Compassion grows community,’ says Durban North NPO

Fin, a sustainable development student, said the ‘mini farm’ package consists of eight compost bags with various seedlings planted directly into the bags to make a simple, cost effective container that takes up very little space.

“For people who don’t have enough space, we could put together a micro farm of just four bags,” said Fin.

The ‘farms’ are made up of regenerative plants, which can be harvested without dying, such as celery, tomatoes, spring onion, lettuce, spinach and chilies.

Clint said Ubuntu Farms is inspired by Colin Bundy’s book, The Rise and Fall of the African Peasantry.

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“In a nutshell, African peasantry was a very well established sustainable farming method that allowed people throughout South Africa to sustain themselves on small pieces of land, farming for their own needs. And then apartheid came along and crushed that and basically ripped the men out of the farm and put them into the cities. Everyone asks, ‘where do we go from here.’ I think we should look at our heritage, and our heritage is farming sustainably. There is a great culture of looking after ourselves. I believe that going back to farming is a step toward real independence for most people,” he said.

For more information log onto the Ubuntu Army or the Ubuntu Link Facebook page.

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