Biowatch, South Africa

Biowatch South Africa strives to prevent biological diversity from being privatised for corporate gain. This gallery shows their work with small scale farmers on sustainable agriculture, food and seed security and farmers’ rights.

In the eastern region of South Africa, communities face ongoing hardships - with erratic electricity and little water access	Households on average have 5 family members, but as HIV/Aids affects many here, houses often include those who have lost family	Despite these hardships, communities of small farmers are coming together with the help of a local NGO, Biowatch
With GMOs being heavily pushed in the region, Biowatch works with the farmers to build on their family 'seed banks'	and ensure that their traditional and indigenous seeds are revived, so that control of their seed is increasingly secure	Biowatch works closely with 20 communities across the region bringing ongoing mentoring on ecological agricultural practices
Here the farmers learn to make compost by drawing on their livestock manure and creating layers of dry leaves and grass	Left for two weeks, this compost sack will be ready to use on the household vegetable gardens.	By creating these 15mx15m gardens per household, these small farmers are able to produce enough food to feed their families