We then went out to the fields where we saw the nursery, the shade net and the Tunnels they use for training purposes. We were surprised by how much taller the crops grew in the tunnel compared to the open field and how much bigger the vegetables were which goes to prove that the tunnels are a great way to control the growing environment to combat the ever changing weather patterns. We weren’t allowed to enter any of the tunnels due to the strict protocols in place to prevent pesticides etc entering the tent but we were content to watch from the entrance as it was hoooott in those tunnels!
Jade and Nicola visit Eswatini Kitchen
Nicola Taylor • September 30, 2024
Eswatini Kitchen and the Woman Farmer Foundation Visit - 26 Sep 2024
The drive into the Eswatini Kitchen office and factory is lined with hundreds of Mango Trees and the staff in the office could not believe how excited I was to see real life mangoes (and pineapples and papayas and bananas) in their natural habitats! All we see is the fruit in the supermarket or blended in a jar of jam etc, so I was beside myself with excitement to see mangoes on the mango trees which amused the staff greatly! They even humoured me by taking our photo in front of the them and broke off some of the fruit for us to hold.
We got a warm welcome from Carlos Paiva and met the team we would be spending time with over the next two days in their lovely air conditioned meeting room. We also got to meet some of the wonderful students who are sponsored by our dear customer Unicorn Grocery in conjunction with True Origin Partnerships, as they come to the end of their 3 month training course through the Tunnel Project, before the next cohort of around 20 students starting in October. Each of the students we spoke to told their own story of how the Woman Farmer Foundation has helped them turn the theory of what they had learned at university into practise by actually getting taught practical farming methods and having their own piece of land to cultivate using the Tunnels. These tunnels are particularly valuable as they allow the farmer to control the growing environment for the crops as the weather is unpredictable now due to climate change. We saw the difference these tunnels make as the tomato plants were almost 6ft tall whereas the ones in the open field without the protection were only around 2-3 ft tall. The weekend before we arrived in Eswatini, they had really bad hail storms and temperatures of around 15 degrees, and then a few days later it was bright sunshine and 41 degrees.
The students we met were Andile Hlatjwayo who is 28 years old and graduated from the University of Eswatini with a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering. We also met Nolwazi Hlatjwayo who is 34 years old with a BSC in Horticulture and later on we met Nonsindiso Mamba. These three remarkable women are educated to a high level and yet could not find a job when they left university with their degrees and this problem is all too common in Eswatini where they have a very high unemployment rate but an educated youth who are willing to keep learning. This is where the Tunnel Project comes in. In university they only learn the classroom based theory which does not always transfer easily into starting a farm and turning it into a business. The Tunnel Project provides this link, it teaches them business skills such as bookkeeping, taxation and accountancy, business planning, IT skills etc and equips them to turn there land into a business.
One of the good things about Eswatini is that the king provides everyone with a piece of land and so they have the means to do subsistence farming but the skills learnt through the Tunnel Project allows them to develop this into a commercial business over time. It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm of these young women and their willingness to get out there and start putting what they have learnt into practice on their own land knowing that they have the knowledge and expertise of those at the Woman Farmer Foundation at their fingertips. The far right photo has Sonia Paiva on the right who founded The Woman Farmer Foundation and the Woman Farmer of the Year competition and she remains extremely passionate about these women and projects.
Next up was a tour of the factory by Carlos and Damien de Sousa. They were keen to show us where they started, where they are now, and where they hope to be in terms of factory capacity. They have plans to automate certain parts of the production line in order to be more efficient and save in production time. Carlos talked us through the current process and explained what each piece of equipment does. Jade and I showed great interest in the freezer room and just had to step inside to cool our burning hot Scottish skin down.
Next it was lunch time and we were treated to a proper Swazi tradition for sharing a meal together which was called a Shisa Nyama where the meats are cooked over an open flame and is served on a platter with pap (maize meal), coleslaw, and chakalaka beans. Everyone just tucks in and eats with their hands and enjoys the conversation and company. I have to say, it took Jade and I a while to get used to eating beans and coleslaw with our hands bur we really enjoyed the experience nonetheless.
After lunch we went back to the very welcome air conditioned meeting room where we spoke about both Eswatini’s future plans and True Origin’s plans and brainstormed ways we can work better together and our areas of growth. All in all it was a brilliant day, a huge learning curve for Jade and I but we soaked it all in … and then sweated it all out, 41 degrees was hard for us as we have not experienced that kind of heat before, thank goodness for air conditioning.
After six years of leadership, Mary Popple has retired from her role as Chair of the True Origin Board to assume the role as an ordinary board member. She leaves a legacy of steadfast, values-led leadership, resilience and commitment to Fair Trade during a period of significant transition for the social enterprise. First appointed to the True Origin Board in 2013, Mary became the first woman to take on the role of Chair in April 2019. Her journey into the position was shaped by a successful career in the IT industry and a passion for Fair Trade. Mary was an active member of the influential St Andrews Fair Trade group which successfully campaigned to designate the town as a Fairtrade area, and for The Open Golf championship to become the first UK sports tournament to commit to using Fairtrade products. This was complemented with over twenty years’ experience of involvement in other trade justice and development opportunities for women. During her six-year tenure as Chair of the True Origin board, Mary strategically led the social enterprise through a challenging external environment at a challenging time for many small businesses. Less than a year into her new role, the Covid pandemic emerged, causing significant uncertainty for staff, producers and customers as well as disruption in global supply chains. The war in Ukraine and cost-of-living crisis soon followed. Despite the challenges, under Mary’s leadership, True Origin generated over £2.3million in sales income that included £733,000 worth of Kilombero rice from Malawi. That’s equivalent to 245 tonnes or nearly 5 million servings of rice! The sale of the rice provides families in Malawi, one of the least developed countries in the world, with sustainable incomes and better food security. Mary played an instrumental role in rolling out the social enterprise’s rebrand and positioning the organisation as the go-to place for fair and fine products under the new True Origin banner. The product range subsequently increased during her tenure, solidifying True Origin’s reputation in the fine foods market. New products included a range of condiments such the soon-to-become both a customer favourite and one of Mary’s favourite products, sun-dried fig balsamic reduction as well as the popular beer bread of which over 150,000 packets were sold during her term. Mary’s leadership as Chair will also be remembered for her values-led approach, guiding the organisation to decisions with its founding fair trade principles in mind and the interests of producers always at the forefront. She invested time in expanding the board’s skillset and further developing the organisation’s robust governance procedures, upholding True Origin’s commitment to transparency with its stakeholders and leaving the organisation in a strong position to tackle future challenges. She also brought an instinctive knowledge of Fair Trade customers in Scotland and beyond to the role.
Our former Operations Manager and now volunteer, Liam McLaughlin caught up with Kenneth Mwakasungula on the challenges of being a Kilombero Rice farmer
R eflections on the recent visit of Howard Msukwa, Rice Farmer from Kaporo Smallholder Farmer Association (KASFA)
Jade and Nicola visit some of the Woman Farmer Foundation farmers to learn more about their crops and farming techniques and some of the challenges they face.
After attending the WFTO International Fair Trade Summit in Capetown, Jade and Nicola were lucky enough to get to go visit one of our producer groups, Black Mamba. If you haven't tried their delicious chilli products yet, head right over to our online shop and invest in some serious taste. Above is Nicola and Jade with Black Mamba Founder, Claudia. Now over to Nicola to tell the story in her own words...