Full Circle Digital Magazine February 2014

ENTREPRENEURSHIP • FOODPODS FOODPODS by Nkuthazo Dyalvane . . . pioneering an innovative urban agri-business model that enables people who live at the bottom of the pyramid to feed themselves in a ﬁnancially sustainable way – thereby helping to solve the food security crisis in under-resourced communities. S ocial evolution is a vast psych dependent on our various collective efforts to direct and adapt successfully. Attributing the cause for external environmental climatic changes to human negligence, we must look back at what was - excessive pollutants ﬁlled our air and soil for commercial demand. In foresight, adjust our psych’s to create a new survival consciousness. I attended an ofﬁcial World Design Capital project called ‘SHIFT perspectives’, which includes various presentations happening at the Stellenbosch Academy of Design hosted monthly. This initiative’s focus is to connect thinkers with an aim to highlight social investment projects in various communities and develop momentum with its platform within the vicinity of Cape Town and the surrounds. The social entrepreneur, Peter Shrimpton, head of an organisation called Heart Capital, at the Old Castle Brewery in Woodstock, spoke with encapsulating enthusiasm on their social investment business model. This model encourages and supports entrepreneurs to provide services within their 4 weeks after activation 14 FOR A FREE SUBSCRIPTION FREE SUBSCRIPTION communities to alleviate every day challenges and assist with daily community livelihoods. One such project is the exciting Foodpods business, an Estaq Capital social impact investment, running successfully in Phillipi. Milk crates lined with hessian fabric, called Pods, are ﬁlled with veggies and replenished at Food Pod sites farmed by community members for R30 per pod by the franchisee, when stock is needed. The franchisee then sells vegetables to community members, which develops communal growth ability in an evolutionary and sustainable way. The use of this fascinating yet simple method of growing vegetables directly into a compost mixture, ensures each pod provides high levels of much needed nutrients on consumption. This model can then be applied to various other food focused entrepreneurs within various communities that face challenges of hungry stomachs in low income family households every day. The earth once again gives us, in our human evolution, the strength to continue. She never fails when treated with conscious care. Nophindile Mayeki - beauti FULL CIRCLE DIGITAL MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2013 February 2014

Full Circle Digital Magazine February 2014 | Page 14