In a new episode of Inside Africa, CNN meets the urban farmers and social entrepreneurs leading the way in food sustainability and economic empowerment from community farms to organic online grocery stores.
In Cape Town, Bukho Dem, founder of BSomebodySA has single-handedly opened up a new market for the area’s township based urban farmers, supplying to some of the city’s finest restaurants and boutique hotels. She speaks about creating the project, “BSomebodySA started during Covid when the world was ending, and I started actually in my own backyard, started watching YouTube videos on how to grow my own food, because money was scarce, and I had to come up with a solution and how to actually stay alive. So, I started a vegetable garden in my backyard, started growing tomatoes which were delicious. Then I started sharing them with my neighbours.”
BSomebodySA collaborates with over 60 farms across three different townships, most of them are youth or women-led and all implement regenerative farming techniques. Dem explains, “Regenerative agriculture is basically healing the earth to create food. And how we do that is that we use the components that we are currently using like scraps in the kitchen, which is how I started my own company, using scraps from your kitchen that you’re using and eating and actually putting it back into the earth, and letting the earth actually do what it’s supposed to do to create even more food.”
The produce nourishes the children at neighbouring schools, supports the local community, and delights patrons at award-winning restaurants. Dem talks about the marketplace, “Before the farmers had to find their own market to be able to sell to, and they were struggling with that. And as a result most of the crops were dying, and the consumer was only reliant on three basic stores for them to be able to get vegetables. […] Now with the use of technology, I’m able to bring the consumer and the producer together in one simple system.”
In Nairobi, entrepreneur Juliet Kennedy has harnessed her passion for food to pioneer a whole new industry, teaming up with local producers in the process. Her company Greenspoon is the country’s first online retail store dedicated to providing high quality, sustainably sourced local produce, “Food systems and the environment are so closely connected, and why I love sitting in the food space is not just because I’m passionate about flavour and quality and so on, but it’s also because it’s something that all of us humans do every day. We consume food. So, when we make the choice around food, if we can make choices that will actually impact the environment in a positive way, then the snowball effect can be so huge.”
She continues, “That’s where I feel we can make a big impact, and I’m really passionate about the environment, because we see the effects of climate change here, we speak to farmers where they tell us stories about what’s happening with changing weather patterns, unpredictability, and a lot of challenges for them. And I know that for all of us humans who consume food, which is everybody, we have the power to make better decisions which will have an impact of the environment.”
Kennedy describes her company, “What we’re trying to do at Greenspoon, is to empower the smaller producer. So that might be the person who has a great idea and makes the most delicious nut butters. Or it might be the person who has come up with a stunning new skincare range. The producer that’s trying to access customers, but not quite sure how to. So, for us we want to be a part of shifting food systems, and shifting food systems for us means empowering that supply chain, but also educating the customer on what’s possible.”
Greenspoon is keen to limit food waste which contributes to global carbon emissions. Kennedy talks about how they reduce this waste, “Something that we do which I’m really proud of with our urban farmers, is they don’t harvest the products until the customer has ordered. So, if the customer ordered last night for instance, the produce will be harvested this morning, and it will be delivered to the customer within the day. And so, it’s super fresh, it’s still full of all the goodies and nutrients that it should be full of, and it tastes amazing. And what’s also powerful about that, is that there’s very little waste with what we do because we’re data driven.”
From Nairobi to Cape Town, homegrown and environmentally conscious business is on the rise
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Author: Ntandoyenkosinabadala Makhoba from Burson Africa on behalf of CNN.
Why is the environment important to human kind? The environment is important to human kind because it provides us with the basic necessities of life such as air, water, food and shelter. It also has a direct impact on our physical and mental well-being, as it provides places for recreation and relaxation, and can help to reduce stress. Furthermore, the environment contributes to the overall quality of life, as it helps to regulate the climate, and can affect the health of our economy and communities. Finally, the environment is essential for sustaining the biodiversity of our planet, which is essential for the survival of many species, including humans.
Three examples of how the environment affects human activities?
- Climate Change: Human activities such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and overfishing are all contributing to global climate change. Climate change has been linked to a range of impacts, from more extreme weather patterns to sea level rise and disruption of food production.
- Air Pollution: Human activities such as burning fossil fuels for energy production, transportation, and industrial processes are a major source of air pollution. This air pollution can cause respiratory problems, acid rain, and crop damage.
- Water Pollution: Human activities such as dumping waste into bodies of water, agricultural runoff, and oil spills can lead to water pollution. This pollution can cause algal blooms, contamination of drinking water, and destruction of aquatic ecosystems.
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