Farm this City: Everyone a Farmer
- Business
- Social Investment
- Communications
- Corporate social responsibility
- Employment
- Fair trade
- Income generation
- Marketing
- Networking
- Philanthropy
- Social enterprise
- Travel and tourism
- Education
- Education reform
- Youth development
- Community development
- Design
- Economic development
- Food security
- Hunger
- Poverty alleviation
- Sustainable development
- Urban development
- Eco Products
- Global Warming
- Recycling
- Solar Energy
- Biodiversity
- Climate change
- Energy
- Environment
- Green business
- Green consumerism
- Renewable energy
- Sustainable agriculture
- Sustainability
- Urban
- Food
- Health education
- Wellness
- Intercultural relations
- Intergenerational relations
- Tolerance
- Vulnerable populations
- Arts & culture
- Citizen participation
- Citizen sector
- Conscious consumerism
- Ethics
- Media
- Mentorship
- News & knowledge
- Volunteerism
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.
Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?
Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
Founding Story
Team
Internet
Co-founder
No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Clean Water and Sanitation, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action.
This is my first attempt at business, even though I have been self-employed for much of my working life. My journey with journalism took me across the length and breadth of South Africa. It exposed me to the country's amazing diversity, as well as devastating realities and seemingly immense challenges. At the same time though, in the darkest of places I discovered the most amazing light in people, communities, and projects who were rising to meet their challenges. As a facilitator of life skills in youth development, I saw first hand the legacy of our apartheid past. Again though, in the same room, I met the most inspiring personalities that refused to be defined by any measurement but their own. In recent years I have worked on books with individuals whose philosophies about life, change, and everything forced me to confront myself and ask hard questions about how I see the world and what I want to see realised in my life. Last year I became a father, something that has change me forever. While there are days when I look at the collective troubles of the human world and feel small and overwhelmed, when I look at my daughter I know that what I choose to do today will shape her tomorrow. My collective life experiences have led me to this point. I truly believe that humanity will succeed or fail in the city. Everyone a farmer!
We are currently engaging a large corporate - a group of companies with interests in water, waste management, and food services - as a potential partner. Rehann has just finished consulting them on strategy and rebranding of their water business (he has previous experience in a water business) as a first step in this.
Farm this City has grown organically over the last two years. And necessarily so, as farmers we need to honour our place in the bigger cycles of life. Our network of contacts and relationships is extensive touching on agriculture, media, business, education, community, food, and tourism. Some have gone cold because there is nothing to sustain them, yet. This is what it means to farm - sometimes one must work long hours in the fields, cultivating, only to have to step back and wait for those forces beyond your control, the rain and the sun.