The NMRW started working in this region in 2015. As of 2020, there are a total of 17 projects and 123 members. The projects include: 3 gardens, 1 bakery, 1 piggery, 5 beads/craft projects, 2 poultry (1 layer and 1 broiler) projects, 1 cleaning detergents project, and 4 sewing projects. Mpumalanga Garden Cooperative The project, consisting of eight women, is situated at Manzimakhulu village in Nongoma.
It started in January 2014 and was identified by the NMRW in June 2017. On four hectares of land, they plant vegetables such as cabbage, spinach, maize, beans and potatoes, which they sell to local community members. They also supply the local Spar supermarket with cabbages and spinach. With help from the NMRW, the women have moved from earning salaries only after every harvest to earning monthly salaries; they have irrigation that covers the whole four hectares from irrigation and can now, therefore, utilise all four hectares to their full capacity; and have optimised their crop quantities. Finally, they have also managed to hire four temporary workers who assist the women during planting and harvesting seasons. Despite all this success, the project has faced a couple of cases of community sabotage, and COVID-19 impacted their access to markets.
