Afrika Tikkun – Gauteng and Western Cape
As a renowned South African non-profit organisation, Afrika Tikkun holistically supports children and youth in disadvantaged communities to empower them to create a better life for themselves and their families.
Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic restrictions have significantly exacerbated the issue of food insecurity in the country. Thus, along with capacitating unemployed youth in programmes focusing on education, health and social services, Afrika Tikkun is also pushing the envelope of agri-businesses to positively contribute to strengthening food security in the country.
Afrika Tikkun’s CEO, Alef Meulenberg says, “With one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in the world, there is significant opportunity to engage young South Africans in the country’s agricultural sector. The aim of our programme is to empower them to become successful agri-business owners and job creators while contributing to food security in our country.”
Thus, in 2022, Afrika Tikkun partnered with the Woolworths Trust on its Urban Agripreneurship Incubation Project to train 35 unemployed youth in Orange Farm (Gauteng) and Mfuleni (Western Cape). The young South Africans were provided with training and skills to help them launch and run their own micro-enterprises in the urban agricultural space as well as contribute to sustainable food production, providing their communities with access to nutritious fresh produce.
The Mfuleni cohort of 20 young people began their programme by working on a commercial farm for one month in February 2022 to give them hands-on experience of farming life. As the year unfolded, they were trained in land design, soil fertility, seeds and seedling propagation, irrigation and environmentally friendly farming practices. In addition, they also received business and entrepreneurship training. They will complete their programme and become independent in 2023.
In both project sites in Mfuleni and Orange Farm, all vegetable seedlings planted during winter by the youth had a 100% growth and survival rate, proving excellent knowledge application. Both the Mfuleni and Orange Farm cohorts organised highly successful market days where they sold their produce and raised awareness of the opportunities in agriculture for young people in their communities. The Orange Farm cohort is ramping up production and with assistance, they will have access to bigger market networks soon.
The Orange Farm agri-preneurs are spearheading a farming revolution in their communities. They organised a youth day event for 58 young gardening enthusiasts where they imparted knowledge on the basics of growing organic vegetables as well as starting a food garden. They also distributed 200 packets of seeds and seedlings. The agri-preneurs also inspired and assisted a group of 12 women to repurpose two dumping sites and turn them into highly productive food gardens. There have been no dropouts in the Orange Farm cohort, demonstrating the incredible commitment of the young people.