Employment and enterprise development programmes, including organic farming, artisanal skills and ecotourism initiatives for sustainable livelihoods.
Siyakhula is our benchmark enterprise development and entrepreneurship programme. Many of the projects within this programme also have a dual focus on food security. Siyakhula, an isiXhosa word meaning ‘It is growing’, has evolved from our first agricultural training project which taught farming, beekeeping and animal husbandry skills into a more comprehensive and far reaching career and employability-driven enterprise creation initiative.
EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
The Grootbos Foundation has joined forces with Early Childhood Development centres in Masakhane to assist in implementing key governance and administration practices to enable them to register with the Department of Social Development. The Foundation identifies the need to help and support working parents with safe, fun, educational child care options.
CAREERS, EMPLOYABILITY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP
This project provides skills training workshops to empower young people to become more employable, self-confident and positive about life. Through career workshops, school students learn more about their individual aptitudes and strengths, as well as about different study fields and career options.
The Employability Programme offers People, Work, Money and Entrepreneurship workshops to unemployed youth. After interviews, a select group of youth are provided with workplace experience. Our budding entrepreneurs complete a business development programme focused on small enterprises and entrepreneurship. Successful small business presentations receive seed funding and mentorship to help start or expand their small businesses.
FOOD SECURITY
The Grootbos Foundation aims to address food security and healthy nutrition in the greater Gansbaai community by serving as an agricultural support hub. Qualified staff run workshops and clubs aimed toward organic vegetable gardening in a semi-urban environment. The team use the Grootbos Foundation organic vegetable garden as a practical example of how landscapes can be transformed into something both beautiful and valuable. T
Multiple home and six school gardens have been established with the help and guidance of our Food Security team. Much of the produce from these gardens is used by the Foundation kitchen team to supplement the nutritious meals served as part of our youth feeding scheme.