Our gardens provide employment and basic household income while feeding malnourished children.

Widespread malnourishment is devastating to community residents, especially children from vulnerable households headed by their grandmothers. We have launched a nutrition component to develop community gardens to assist in both food provision and income generation for vulnerable households. Ubuntu has developed three sustainable food gardens on primary school grounds and a nursery and demonstration garden at our headquarters. A team of 10 parents (often grandmothers), 2 teachers and 20 students from each school were extensively trained by the Ubuntu staff and the Medicinal and Edible Gardening Association in establishing and maintaining organic gardens. Each team learned the principals of permaculture gardening and designed a garden that takes advantage of the site's natural features. Each school gardening team received an extensive 45-hour, hands-on training during which they tilled the grounds and improved the soil with organic material, laid irrigation paths to utilize rainwater runoff, created compost heaps, and planted beds of vegetables and fruit trees. The gardens now consist primarily of spinach, yams, beet root, carrots, squash and beans since they are easy to grow, commonly consumed in the local culture and highly nutritious especially for those with weakened immune systems.

Ubuntu also trains parents in food preparation since they are responsible for daily preparation of a nutritious meal for 300-500 children at each school. The plan calls for 70% of the gardens harvest directed to feeding the children of the school and 10% of its weekly produce is sold at market to generate revenue that will help maintain the garden. The final 15% is allocated to the parents responsible for the garden, thus creating a small income. In January 2005, Ubuntu also opened a demonstration garden at our Zwide headquarters in order to test the viability of crops and to learn and practice different gardening methods. The garden provides healthy fresh vegetables to HIV positive participants in our counselling programme and support groups.