Around 1 million people in South Africa—the majority of whom are recent arrivals from the former apartheid homelands, Transkei and Ciskei— live in the shacks that make up Khayelitsha, Nyanga and the area surrounding the Cape Flats outside Cape Town. Just under half, or 40 percent, of the population is unemployed, while the rest barely earn enough income to feed their families. In this week’s episode, Nourishing the Planet research fellow, Molly Theobald, introduces an innovation that is helping families in these settlements become farmers to improve their diets, create a source of income, restore the local environment and bring fresh produce to the city.
To read more about innovations that improve diets and incomes while bringing fresh produce to the city, see: Vertical Farms: Finding Ways to Grow Food in Kibera, Growing Food in Urban "Trash," Creating a Market for the Taste of Home, Looking for an Answer in the Private Sector, and Reducing Wastewater Starts with a Conversation.