Source articles published 18 July 2024

Near the Dinokeng Game Reserve in Gauteng, a sustainable farm is growing crops and empowering a group of farmers from the nearby community of Hammanskraal.  

What is the problem?

Hammanskraal faces a range of socioeconomic and environmental issues such as high unemployment, poverty, pollution and unreliable access to clean water. Communities living near game reserves are also often excluded from the full benefits of protected areas. 

How are they fixing it?

In 2022, a Smart Farm project was started on a 122-hectare plot near the Dinokeng Game Reserve. The farm provides meaningful work and training opportunities for members of the Hammanskraal community while growing produce, using methods that are good for the environment.   

What makes it work?

• Strong partnerships. The farm runs with the support of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), while the infrastructure and the land were purchased by Inqaba Biotech, a genomics sequencing company, as part of their corporate social responsibility commitment. They have also teamed up with Tshwane University of Technology with agriculture students who carry out 40-week experiential learning on the farm.

• Creating long-term infrastructure.  The land had previously been a farm, but it had fallen into disrepair, while use of harmful chemicals damaged the soil. In creating the new Smart Farm, it was essential to fence the land, create a proper irrigation system, and secure other equipment to support sustainable farming that feeds the soil rather than damaging it. 

• Training a team of farmers in sustainable agriculture. A sizable team of community members from Hammanskraal, 16 of them young people in training, were hired as farmers on the Smart Farm. WWF has upskilled the community members in agro-ecology methods, providing skills that are useful for supporting communities through environmental disruptions like climate change. The farming methods they use successfully balance the needs of people and the environment. 

• Sustaining the project by selling produce. The farm has found a range of markets to sell the crops they grow. They do everything from supplying green beans and sweet corn to the frozen food company McCain to selling produce at a local market in Hammanskraal.

Into the future, the Smart Farm continues to grow, with provisions for tunnels, free-range chickens, a nursery and efforts to demonstrate agro-ecology to the public. 

Acknowledgements

Original article: A Smart Farm Springs Up and Empowers Locals  by Tanya Faber

Photograph: Tanya Faber