	The coronavirus pandemic has impacted everyone in different ways, but it takes a significant toll on people living in rural communities where children’s nutritional, educational, and social-emotional needs were barely being met even before the arrival of Covid-19. Most households in our community were already relying only on a single gogo’s pension, but lockdown meant that additional family members who usually work in the cities returned to the community, which added to the number of mouths to feed in each household. Approximately 33% of South Africa is comprised of rural populations. Yet, there is little to no assistance being provided to these particularly fragile communities largely because they are simply too hard to reach. Without intervention from community-based organisations such as ours, people living in these communities would be left to fend for themselves.

Our Nisela Organic Farming Programme provides a way for households to achieve food security and generate cash incomes while also boosting access to locally sourced vegetables for the broader community. Our Organic Farming Mentors provide ongoing support and training for struggling farmers in the community through this programme. The ultimate goal is to help farmers achieve self-reliance. Our one-on-one mentoring sessions are personalised for each farmer based on his/her production goals; some of our farmers simply want to be able to feed themselves and their households, while others aim to generate a reasonable monthly income.

Key Features
Locally Hired Farming Mentors:
Our Farming Mentors are full-time employees who come to us with some level of prior farming experience. However, Mentors themselves participate in ongoing training to broaden their skill sets in organic, sustainable farming practices to help our farmers grow food successfully.

Farm-based Trainings:
Our group training and individual mentoring sessions occur at our farms, enabling farmers to gain hands-on experience in organic farming practices. Farmers must be present for weekly training and daily mentoring.

Infrastructure Support:
We provide farms with necessary infrastructure (fencing and irrigation systems) to protect their crops from devastation due to free-roaming animals and ensure that they can still water their crops in times of drought. Water is stored in 5000-litre Jojo tanks at each of our farms, improving farmers’ work efficiency, as they would otherwise have to carry buckets of water back and forth.

Personal Development:
In addition to technical farming knowledge, our Mentors integrate personal skills into our training sessions, as we believe that farmers need these skills to solve problems and build resilience. We place particular emphasis on lifelong learning skills such as critical thinking, empathy, perspective, creativity, and self-esteem.

Enrolment:
In 2021, 379 active farmers enrolled in our Organic Farming Programme tend to their own individual plots in 29 small-scale farms throughout the community. One hundred percent of our farmers are Black African and 84% of our farmers are female. Furthermore, 16% of our farmers are elderly (65+), 77% are adults between the ages of 36 and 64, and 7% are youth (18-35). In 2021, we added three youth farms, which will be essential for the long-term sustainability of farming in our community.

Key Achievements & Impact from 2020
- Farmers’ cumulative vegetable production in 2020 amounted to R3 556 117, representing a 63% increase from 2019, when cumulative vegetable production amounted to R2 180 935.
- Farmers sold 89% of their produce, consumed 8,5%, and gave away 2,5% to neighbours in need.
- Farmers personally consumed over R302 605 worth of vegetables – indicating that our farming programme is having a substantial impact on food security!
- Some of our most productive farmers earned up to ZAR3 795 per month.
- Of the total amount of produce sold by farmers in 2020, 89% was sold within the local community, indicating that our farming programme is also having a substantial impact on food security on the broader community.