Tekowa excited by the work she is doing

At my internship we work with many farming communities that are fighting for ownership of the resources and fair treatment and wages. One of those communities are the Ithemba Farmers. The other week I went and met with the Ithemba Farmers Association (http://abahlali.org/taxonomy/term/2042) and we discussed forced removals (which are essentially still happening), lack of government support, land access issues, food security, food and seed sovereignty, and I got to walk around the farms (both produce and livestock). Where they are living is by Khayelitsha and set up kind of like an informal settlement (a little less packed) but with small farm plots. These farmers were forcibly removed from their native homes and have been occupying government land for almost 30 years now- trying to sustain themselves through agriculture but once again the government wants to kick them out (and build another Khayelitsha-like settlement on their land). It’s remarkable what they’ve been able to do and produce with the land since they are in the Cape Flats where the soil is all sand and they’re living on top of a wet land/ water basin. I’ve also found out that my main focus while I'm here will be to work with the youth group run out of SPP to create a youth commune. So I will be working on applying for a land reform grant from the government and then following up with marches to put pressure on the government to act. The youth communes are basically just trying to get land into the hands of unemployed youth so that they can sustain themselves (through agriculture) in a living and learning community. I’m very excited about this project because a cooperative community like this is something I really believe in and can stand by.