Mount Currie Community Development Organisation (MCCDO)
We accept 100% K'Mali
Masibambisane Initiative (Mount Currie Permaculture Development Project)
The MCCDO in partnership with the J.J.P. Bosman Family Trust launched the Mount Currie Permaculture Development Project. Also known as the Masibambisane initiative, the intention of which is to improve local well-being and address food insecurity and malnourishment by empowering vulnerable peri-urban communities through the promotion of regenerative agriculture. The farm is 338ha in size with a completed comprehensive permaculture design in the process of being implemented by EG Permaculture Co-operative in partnership with local government and community stakeholders. The "PPCC" (Public, Private, Civil Society & Community) model we are developing aims to foster new land reform and wealth creation as a common heritage to build synergistic relationships between diverse people and the natural environment.
Download The Origional Permaculture Design for Mountain View Farm
Instead of a conventional industrial agriculture plan, the project involves enacting a new paradigm of whole-systems thinking rooted in an ethical design science to build community and supply human needs in a way that is beneficial to life on earth. Not only is the Masibambisane initiative working to transform underproductive peri-urban arable land in a climate change resilient way through integrated permaculture design. It is also rethinking the current food system, so as to feed people as a priority while still operating as an financially viable, efficient and sustainable operation. We firmly believe in the "right-to-food" and hence the need to create alternative systems to produce nutrient dense food that people can afford. A wide range of social innovations have emerged in recent years around the world to support the rebuilding of local food access systems, primarily by reconnecting urban consumers with local food producers - models we are exploring include CSA (community supported agriculture), and examples like Montreal's urban agriculture initiatives, Ontario's adopted Local Food Act, Toronto’s food strategy including the Toronto Agricultural Program, Belo Horizonte's (Brazil) Zero Hunger strategy and the City of Durban/eThekwini Municipality’s (South Africa) Agroecology Delivery Programme, among others give us hope that this is the way forward.
Left: Shayamoya RDP Housing Settlement with about 4660 low cost houses bordering the farm
Mountain View farm borders Shayamoya - a low income housing settlement of approximately 4660 low income houses on the outskirts of Kokstad and is also adjacent to 2 other informal 'townships' where poverty and unemployment rates are chronic and rising. Residents in these settlements are often discouraged work seekers who are stuck in the unemployment trap and their families endure a low standard of living, malnutrition and are food insecure. This is not unlike many other parts of South Africa, where Local communities are disconnected from agriculture and the youth are desperate for empowerment opportunities. Under MCCDO and EG Permaculture Co-operative custodianship, the Masibambisane initiative is well structured and situated to address their development challenges. Our completed comprehensive Permaculture Design is ready for full implementation and various zones have been identified for the integration of community cultivation and value added activities that will stimulate further SMME businesses development. We are also pioneering and partnering with various other innovative community development initiatives which include launching open university access, building an open-source ‘makerspace’ and ‘clean energy’ community factory, expanding “K’Mali” - a local complimentary currency and streamlining regional tourism development. The recently upgraded Mount Currie Community Development Centre focuses on hosting various educational and recreational events to further enhance local wellbeing.
Our commercial community farming initiative aims to improve food security through ecological climate smart methods and promotes synergistic smallholder and shareholder farming within an overarching and interconnected Permaculture Design. Disenfranchised peri-urban dwellers are able to gain access to land, capacity building and institutional arrangements through our organisations that help them increase their food production organically as well as give them leverage to markets as a unified enterprise with a new wealth creation and redistribution model linked to a value index. We hope our efforts will inform Government policy on climate resilient and regenerative agriculture to address national concerns on land reform and food security.
