Empowers Africa is a U.S. public charity that gets to work in Africa from the ground up. Learn more about how they are getting the balance right by harnessing tourism to support conservation and communities in Africa’s poorest places. Some of these projects co-exist on the edges of the most luxurious southern African safari destinations.
The Inzalo Community Project, located in the heart of Big Game Country in Mpumalanga, is one of these. The project was initiated by one of the country’s most prominent southern African safari destinations, Thornybush Collection, and continues to grow with the help of Empowers Africa.
Inzalo Community Project contributes to the running of thriving community vegetable garden projects in the Hoedspruit area specifically:
- Simbambili/Uthla at Manyangana High School including the 1000 Herbs and Vegetable Garden Cooperative
- Hlokomela outside Hoedspruit
- Dixie Community Project at Hanani Primary School on the fringes of the Sabi Sand
The herbs and vegetables are tended by 15 members of the local community and overseen by a project manager who is employed by Thornybush Collection.
Apart from gaining meaningful employment from the projects, the gardeners are encouraged to take home some of the produce from the gardens with them every week. They also receive ongoing training to hone their business and gardening skills, courtesy of the Buffelshoek Trust.
The wide range of salad greens, vegetables, and medicinal herbs grown in the gardens are distributed in several ways:
- Manyangana School, Hanani Primary School, Manyeleti School and the Hlokomela medical clinic receive weekly or daily vegetable hampers
- Produce is sold to local supermarkets
- Fresh greens are also sold to nearby eco-lodges, where they reappear as part of the exquisite meals you can expect to enjoy while on safari
- Any leftover produce is sold to the local community at rock-bottom prices.
Empowers Africa supports these initiatives by providing shade and watering solutions for the gardens as well as contributing to any major maintenance projects required at the school. A recent addition is a building with areas for washing, drying, cooling and storage of the vegetables, as well as an information centre for visitors.
Thornybush collection’s Simbambili Game Lodge provides its guests with the opportunity to visit these community gardens to meet the people involved and find out more about the projects.
Get in touch today if you would like to enjoy a southern African safari that showcases both sides of the story at one of South Africa’s premier private reserves.
