Thanda – KwaZulu-Natal

Nestled in the Mtwalume community in the remote southern region of KwaZulu-Natal is the inspiring non-profit organisation, Thanda. Over the years, it has been tirelessly working to strengthen food security and empower economically-vulnerable households through its Organic Farming Initiative. Many families are living on small incomes received through social grants or pension, and jobs are scarce with only 9% of the population employed. In partnership with Woolworths, Thanda’s Organic Farming Initiative facilitates the production of high quality and abundant harvests, while being mindful of climate change and environmental impacts.

The Organic Farming Initiative consists of two main programmes that offer community members with an avenue to grow their own food to feed their families with nourishing produce, even when the resources are not available. These programmes are: 

  • Nisela
  • Household Gardening

Apart from focusing on food security, the Nisela Programme also offers farmers with the opportunity to earn an income for their households, resulting in the stimulation of the local economy. 
While Thanda provides mentorship and practical farm-based skills training to its farmers to improve their harvests, it also places value in soft skills like critical thinking, empathy, problem solving and resilience for long-term success. 

The KwaZulu-Natal floods of April 2022 extensively affected some of the Thanda farms. However, the resilience and efforts of the farmers in post flood relief work has resulted in a sizeable increase in production. 

The achievements of Thanda’s Nisela and Household Gardening programmes are: 

  • There are 375 and 405 active farmers in the Nisela and Household Gardening programmes, respectively. 
  • The Nisela programme reaches out to 2128 household members, while the Household Gardening programme supports 2029 community members. 
  • Thanda provides farmer training, both during workshops and once or twice weekly via one-on-one training with a mentor that has resulted in an increase in production values.
  • The vast majority of the produce harvested by the farmers stays in the community. It is either consumed by the farmers and their families or sold to local spaza shops, informal vegetable sellers and school feeding schemes
  • As a result of the losses faced during the floods, relief funds from Woolworths amounting to R40 000 were used to replace seedlings, which translated to an estimated R600 000 of consumable food. 
  • Internal trainings at Thanda cover several issues including learning about the restoration of carbon into the soil.
  • Thanda is working towards developing a resilience index for its farms to deal with climate-related hazards (like floods) and to adapt to long-term changes without undermining food security or wellbeing.
  • The total amount of additional carbon sequestered by Thanda as a result of its farming practices across 430020 square metres and 31 farms is 16 277kg carbon to date.

Thanda has always been a frontrunner in educating its local communities in ways and means to alleviate hunger, increase food security and provide employment opportunities. Woolworths is proud to be associated with an organisation that is bringing about powerful change and positive impacts in South Africa.