Mandela Month: in Review

In celebration of Nelson Mandela Month and Nelson Mandela International Day, the Nelson Mandela Foundation went on an awareness drive through mainstream media interviews and social media platforms informing people of all the programmes we would be participating in in honour of our founder’s legacy and teachings.

This year’s theme was “Climate, Food, and Solidarity” with the call to action “It is in your hands”. With these messages, we aimed to encourage the national and global community to take matters into their own hands and effect sustainable, positive change. These words that encourage a more hands-on approach, coupled with our stance as the Foundation on the importance of developing sustainable and impactful interventions against the climate change catastrophe and rising food insecurity, underpinned our collaborations with our friends and partners during this month.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation partnered with various organisations doing work on climate justice and food security. The 1st of July saw the successful 2023 edition of Ride4Hope at the Cradle of Humankind, an event that was also used to launch the Ride4Hope jersey during Mandela month. However, much of the work we did this month as the Nelson Mandela Foundation through our Mandela Day programme was targeted towards activating community-based food gardens at various sites around the country.

In preparation for the 18th of July 2023, we worked with various partners in the private and public sectors in getting community-based gardens ready for ‘showcasing’ to society as we spread the message, encouraging urgent and deliberate interventions on food security and global climate change crises. Our footprint is seen in parts of the country where we have been working, not only for Mandela Day but for our ‘everyday’ projects in the form of community gardens. Some of our partners in capacitating food gardens across the country include:

• Western Cape – Shoprite
• Limpopo – Pfizer
• Kwa-Zulu Natal – African Call for Cooperation and Integral
• Eastern Cape – Nelson Mandela University
• Free State – Habitat for Humanity
• Gauteng – Dell Technologies & Afrika Tikkun Green Acres Farm

As a social justice organization, we appreciate the importance of addressing the issues of access to food and resources, and -taking care of our planet for the current and future generations, in order to create an environment where people can commit to tackling shared problems to achieve quicker and lasting progress. With that, we continue to urge people to:

• Plant and grow fresh, organic, and cost-effective produce in or for vulnerable communities.
• Plant and grow trees for the well-being of all, with an emphasis on fruit trees in support of food production for vulnerable communities.
• Invest in sustainable food production platforms for the benefit of vulnerable communities.
• Embrace home and community planting and growing as a contribution to protecting the environment and addressing the challenge of climate change.
• Encourage potential stakeholder engagement and participation in assisting communities to address issues of food security through cooperate-local partnerships as well as other institutions.
• Promote sustainable solutions towards climate change and food Security.
• Create new local economies which mitigate the effects of food insecurity and climate change