10 short-term food garden projects supported by Tiger Brands and Food and Trees for Africa have come to an end. We are happy with their progress, which will see their gardens go through the winter. We have encouraged the gardeners to apply for further further support.

On the other hand, the 7 long-term projects are still continuing and are seeing infrastructure improvements.

It was a bountiful harvest on the 18th of May when staff from Oricol Environmental Services visited Emmangweni Primary School in Tembisa for a volunteer day. Oricol staff volunteered to work in the garden together with the Emmangweni learners and staff on the day.

On the 8^th of May schools in Needscamp, Potsdam and Mdantsane (near East London) excitedly received deliveries of fruit and indigenous shade trees for planting on their properties. The following day, 9^th May, staff from the East London Konica Minolta South Africa (KMSA), a division of Bidvest Office (Pty) Ltd, visited the area to assist in planting the trees.

Rustenburg – May 2018 – The 2^nd of May was an exciting day for the 1,349 students of Kloofview Primary School, Rustenburg. The learners gathered for a special tree planting assembly - about trees and how to plant them. Konica Minolta South Africa (KMSA), a division of Bidvest Office (Pty) Ltd, donated 40 trees to the school. Staff volunteers from the KMSA Rustenburg branch joined the school to assist with the tree planting on the day. Sipho Mathe from Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) led the tree planting demonstration where learners were taught how to plant a tree the ‘FTFA’ way. The learners, teachers and KMSA staff busily planted as many of the trees as possible – a total of 28 were planted on the day.

In April 2018 Food & Trees for Africa launched our first gardens for Homes project with Tiger Brands in Mohlakeng. We have partnered with Tiger Brands to work at the St John the Divine Orphanage in the area over the last 10 months. The initial work done has focused on scaling up the centre's existing food garden to ensure they can begin to supplement the feeding scheme. In addition, 2000 trees have been distributed to local community members to improve environmental conditions, provide fruit, and generate buy-in on the community level for the work St John the Divine does. 

FTFA

International Day of Forests

This month, 8 schools in the Knysna, George and Plettenberg Bay region will receive indigenous shade and fruit trees donated by Konica Minolta South Africa (KMSA). The schools were identified by Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) as requiring indigenous shade trees following the devastating fires in the region in 2017. On the 20th of March 2018, KMSA staff will plant trees at Concordia High School, together with pupils and school staff, to kick off tree planting in the region.

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in partnership with the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Food & Trees for Africa and other role-players will host a seminar on the International Day of Forests under the theme “Forests and Sustainable Cities”. The seminar is held to focus on highlighting the key role of forests in our society as well as to encourage public participation in forestry related initiatives such as greening.

In 2017 a total of 98 trees were donated through MySchool donations to Food & Trees for Africa. These trees were allocated to four schools around Johannesburg, who received a combination of fruit and indigenous shade trees. Learners got involved in planting the trees and were really excited to contribute to the greening of their school grounds. Refhitile Primary in Shoshaguve received fruit trees only, to establish an orchard on the property.