Ubumbano LoMama Garden Project shows how women’s collective action can strengthen food security and empower communities in Mfuleni, Western Cape.
Five women are turning a piece of unused church land into a growing source of food, opportunity and hope. The Ubumbano LoMama Garden Project, meaning “unity of women”, was born from a simple but powerful idea: to use available resources to create something that could benefit not only the women involved, but their wider community.
Many of the women are unemployed and come from disadvantaged circumstances. Yet, rather than allowing their circumstances to limit their aspirations, they joined forces to establish a productive food garden at their church.
Their vision is bigger than growing vegetables. They want the garden to help address food insecurity, support vulnerable families, create opportunities for unemployed church members and generate income that can contribute towards the needs of the church and its pre-school.
Project leader Nomonde Hinana says the women want the garden to become a sustainable source of support for those who need it most.
“Every produce will be used to feed the community, while some will be sold, with the profits intended to support the church and the pre-school. We also want to assist our unemployed church members.”
The project received support from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) through the Ilima Letsema Funding Programme, with Casidra implementing the intervention.
The support provided essential infrastructure and resources to strengthen agricultural production, including irrigation infrastructure and a rainwater-harvesting tank.
According to the Casidra’s Project Implementer, Bevon Anthony, the project highlights the importance of supporting agriculture as an interconnected system.
“Farming is a collective. You cannot just fund one element and not fund the other. When starting a project, you need land, water and other essential resources. Without these, there can be no sustainable farming project.” Anthony said.
The newly installed infrastructure will enable the women to maintain the garden more effectively and create a stronger foundation for future production.
The completion of the Ubumbano LoMama project is not the finish line. It is the beginning of a longer journey towards greater food production, income generation and community empowerment.
The project embodies the spirit of this year’s Women’s Month theme: “Empowered Women, Empower the Nation.”
Its story demonstrates that empowerment does not always begin with significant resources or large-scale interventions. Sometimes, it begins with a group of women willing to work together, a piece of land and the determination to create something better.
As the women of Ubumbano LoMama plant each seed, they are cultivating more than vegetables. They are planting the seeds of dignity, self-reliance, opportunity and hope, one harvest at a time.