Lukhanyo Matshebelele, a 4th Grade student at Zanemfundo Primary School in the Cape Flats township of Phillipi , is turning his passion for food gardening into a small business.  In February of this year, Lukhanyo emerged a winner in SEED’s Home Garden Competition.

The USAID supported Schools Environmental Education & Development (SEED) offers a comprehensive program that incorporates teacher professional development and the design and implementation of appropriate environmental/ agricultural systems on school grounds.  The Cape Flats townships are built on unstable and infertile sand dunes where most of the natural vegetation has been removed.  SEED enables teachers and students to take control of their environment.

SEED was born out of the obvious need to create a healthy learning environment for the children.  As teachers transform the school grounds and enhance their teaching skills, school communities come to life with vegetable gardens, animal husbandry projects, and models of income generation.  SEED and the home garden competition has sparked an entrepreneurial spirit in Lukhanyo, who sold his tomato crop and invested the money back into his garden. He is now growing another crop of tomatoes as well as butternut squash which he plans to sell. 

This competition aims to transfer food security skills to the school community. Participating classes are provided with a small bag of fertilizer and a couple of multi-harvesting plants. Students are then asked to keep a record of their plant production. This information is reported back to the teachers who visit and judge the strongest contestants.  SEED then awards the winners with garden infrastructure like watering cans, herbs and worm bins. This story is testimony to the successful competition and highlights the importance of providing people with opportunities.  SEED also hopes to secure its workforce of the future by hiring such student contestants for upcoming staff positions.