Sustainable and holistic

Focus goal: one of the core goals in our work is overcoming poverty. In this we focus primarily on training courses and the transfer of knowledge, thereby giving people who have had limited access to education or who are unemployed, the necessary prerequisites to get a job and be able to provide for themselves. Through our projects, we also create new jobs directly with our partner companies, eg. in agricultural production or in the training courses.

Focus goal: This is another core goal for F.E.E.D. activities – combating hunger and malnutrition through training courses covering the theory and practical skills. For us, it is important not only to pass on the theory and practical knowledge about ecologically sustainable agriculture, but also to increase awareness of the vital part played by healthy balanced nutrition, which supports the immune system and strengthens the body’s natural defences against disease. In our agricultural and management courses, participants learn how to grow vegetables and medicinal herbs. Following successful completion of the course, all participants receive a starter pack, with potting compost, seeds, a watering can and rake and, if they do not have their own land to cultivate, an old cut tyre which can be used as a planting bed. In this way, participants can immediately start to grow healthy local food, and secure their long-term self-sufficiency. At the same time, they are taught about using sustainable farming methods, eg. composting, ecological crop protection, and water management, in order to protect natural resources and the environment and minimise their impact on climate change.

Focus goal: F.E.E.D. focusses on knowledge transfer and training courses around the production of ecologically sustainable food and its impact on health and the immune system. Our measures help ensure a supply of healthy food and contribute to the creation of new jobs, particularly in rural areas.

Our training programmes are state-accredited and a certificate is awarded on completion. This can be used as evidence of training when participants apply for new jobs. In the agricultural training courses there is a strong focus on practical skills around cultivating vegetables and medicinal herbs, while in the advanced courses, business management is also taught, so that participants can start their own businesses and operate them successfully.

F.E.E.D. advocates for gender equality in all of its programmes. All sexes can take part in the actions, and we focus in particular on training women and unemployed young people.

In the agricultural training courses, participants learn about the use of drip irrigation systems, which take only 10-20% of the conventional water requirement for cultivation. The application of fertilisers is also reduced to 10-20% of the usual amounts to minimise contamination of the groundwater.

Through our close collaboration with SUNfarming in the Food & Energy Plants, we support the production of renewable energy and at the same time use the multi-functionality offered by the raised solar modules for ecologically sustainable cultivation and for our training courses.

Focus goal: With its training courses, F.E.E.D. makes a vital contribution to participants being able to find a new job, or possibly their first job, or to start their own independent businesses. In this way, the theory and practical training forms the basis whereby participants have a better starting point, where they have evidence that they are knowledgeable and motivated, so that they can be more successful in applying for jobs. In addition, we support participants in finding employment or in successfully building their own business through our extensive network of decision-makers in the world of business and politics.

The Food & Energy Concept of our partners, SUNfarming, has already received recognition for its strong innovative approach. F.E.E.D. is able to make use of this infrastructure for its training courses without any additional capital expenditure. In this way, any money donated to F.E.E.D. goes directly into running the training programmes for participants, and into the production and distribution of the ‘vitality porridge’ for schoolchildren and training teachers so that they can teach their classes about healthy nutrition. In addition, training courses for the nationally recognised Certificate for Solar Systems Installer (PV Green Card) are offered, which contribute to the further rolling-out of renewable energy systems in South Africa.

F.E.E.D. facilitates access to new jobs, healthy food and training, and so makes a vital contribution to reducing inequality. The fact that the Food & Energy Plants make power available off-grid in rural areas also contributes to this goal.

While the infrastructure provided by our partners, SUNfarming, in their Food & Energy Plants, produces green, renewable energy, the agricultural training courses make a sustainable food supply possible by encouraging the protection of natural resources, so that communities and cities remain viable places to live for generations to come.

While the Food & Energy Plants produce emission-free, renewable energy, participants on the agricultural training courses are taught ecologically sustainable methods of food production, with a strong emphasis on protecting natural resources, eg by the minimal use of water and fertilisers.

Focus goal: Every action that F.E.E.D. initiates and supports aims for maximum sustainability and environmental protection. We encourage the use of renewable energy and train others in ecologically sustainable food production, to ensure that natural resources are protected as far as possible.

F.E.E.D also indirectly contributes to protecting life below water by the much lower levels of water and fertilisers used in ecologically sustainable food production, in comparison to conventional agricultural production.

The positive impact of our work on land is even more noticeable than its effects on life below water. This is because it encourages protection of natural resources by providing training courses in ecologically sustainable agriculture and in healthy balanced nutrition. We also contribute to protecting and improving the land, for the future, by sharing knowledge and expertise with the local population, and by introducing clean, renewable energy.

F.E.E.D. contributes to this sustainability goal by all its actions to enable people to find suitable work and to have the chance to have successful long-term business prospects. These act to promote peaceful coexistence and reduce crime.

F.E.E.D. works with partners from business and politics, as well as NGOs, to achieve its sustainability goals in all the areas of activity of the non-profit organisation. We value in particular the close cooperation with local agents in different regions and communities, which enables us to support the maximum number of individuals to have healthy, self-determined lives and better prospects in their lives and work.