The Mandlakazi programme connected crèche gardens, practical training and rainwater harvesting across three communities near Manyoni. Begun through African Conservation Trust, the work continued through Imbewu Yoshintso with an indigenous and food-plant nursery.
A new garden needs water, planting material and people confident enough to keep it productive. The brief was to build those foundations together: practical demonstration gardens at crèches, training for local growers and a nursery to supply future planting.
People and programme.
Mandate
Project management, permaculture design, practical training, field reporting and development of the nursery and crèche-garden system.
Delivery partners
African Conservation Trust, Zululand Conservation Trust, Manyoni Game Reserve, Roots Up and on-site facilitator Zimisele Luthuli.
Programme footprint
Crèche demonstration gardens in three adjacent communities, followed by a reserve-based nursery and continued site expansion.
Documented programme outputs
3
community crèche gardens with rain tanks
3
five-day permaculture courses delivered
41
household records compiled for the baseline
~6,000
vetiver plants established at Manyoni
The work
From design to delivery.
01
Build crèche gardens
Developed food gardens and installed rain tanks at crèches in all three communities adjacent to Manyoni Game Reserve.
02
Train and mentor growers
Delivered a five-day permaculture course in each community and continued practical support and mentorship through 2020.
03
Record the household baseline
Completed three community meetings and compiled household baseline information for 41 community members.
04
Establish a plant nursery
Established the Manyoni indigenous and food-plant nursery in an unused buffalo boma, organising its four stables around seedlings, groundcovers, shrubs and trees.
05
Grow restoration stock
Established approximately 6,000 vetiver plants in contour strips at the Manyoni office complex for propagation and future restoration and garden use.
06
Extend the growing system
Expanded Ubhejane Crèche with a food forest, staple garden, passive water harvesting and gravity-fed drip irrigation, while supporting later delivery at Speakman Crèche.
The project record
On the ground, over time.
Original project footage · 5 May 2022 · 12 seconds
Plant propagation at Manyoni
Irrigation across seedling benches at the Manyoni nursery.
Photographs and drawings
The work in detail.
Onion harvest Onion harvest at Ubhejane Crèche, December 2020.Household baseline visits Household visits helped build a baseline of 41 community records.Cover-crop planting Sowing nitrogen-fixing cover crops beneath a layer of mulch.Sekane demonstration garden A champion farmer’s demonstration site at Sekane.Lemon-tree planting Zimisele Luthuli planting a lemon tree at Ubhejane Crèche, December 2020.Manyoni nursery stock A nursery facilitator holding a young tree at Manyoni, December 2022.
Sources
The records behind this project.
December 2020 project report
Used to verify the three-community crèche programme, training, household baseline, crop diversity, water monitoring and the Twin Stream Nursery reference visit.
February 2021–February 2022 annual report
Used to verify establishment of the Manyoni indigenous and food-plant nursery, its four propagation areas, the approximately 6,000-plant vetiver nursery and later crèche work.
Photographic record
December 2020 report photographs, the Twin Stream Nursery reference visit and a December 2022 Manyoni nursery image.
A crèche garden in KwaZulu-Natal with municipal water storage, swales, protected vegetable beds and a propagation nursery, documented from 2019 to 2022.
