The collaboration between the innobiz DUT (Durban University of Technology) Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the US Consulate General, the University of Maryland (UMD), and the University of Alabama (UAB) recently etched smiles on the faces of learners from 18 schools in Nkandla, northern KwaZulu-Natal, when they were presented with gardening tool packages worth R18 000 each.

The gardening tools handover, held at Vumanhlamvu Primary School on 27 September 2023, was the culmination of the activities of the USA-SA School Entrepreneurship Project, which commenced in September 2022.

The event was attended by members of the innobiz DUT team, the Acting US Consulate General Jaclyn Cole and also consisting of Chantal Boulle, Emerging Voices Specialist, the school teachers from the 18 participating schools, and learners from some of the schools.

Ms. Nontokozo Ngcobo, innobiz DUT Centre Manager, thanked the numerous school teachers from recipient schools for their commitment in ensuring that the project worked, while she also expressed that she hoped the gardening tools would be used accordingly in the schools.

Miss. Ngcobo said that although the initial plan was to adopt five or ten schools for the project, the vastness of the Nkandla area, under the King Cetshwayo District Municipality, which boasts over 160 schools, had compelled the project to adopt 18 schools.

Ms. Ngcobo said that the handover of the gardening tools was a depiction of the success of the project through the efforts of those who had been at the fulcrum of the project.

Ms. Ngcobo commended members of the innobiz team, including Ms. Senamile Dlangalala, the project administrator, Mr. Khothatso Memela and Dr. Harry Swatson who all played crucial roles in ensuring that the project became a success by constantly being hands on.

 

“The project started after we submitted a proposal to the US Consulate General proposing that we wanted to help our schools, to assist them particularly in agriculture, technology, and entrepreneurship.

“We wanted a partnership because these things are quite expensive so if we partner with an industry, it becomes much easier for the University, especially now that we had to take more schools, so they offered us an opportunity to partner with us in this project,” Ms. Ngcobo remarked.   

Turning her attention to the excited learners gathered at Vumanhlamvu Primary School witness, Ms. Ngcobo told the learners that the project belonged to them and that the tools were at their disposal to use in their school gardens to grow plants that will help feed them and their communities.

In closing, Ms. Ngcobo also gave thanks to the University for ensuring that the Centre received the necessary resources to support such initiatives.

“This is how we engage with you as the schools of KwaZulu-Natal. Congratulations to the schools, to the teachers that have been committed to this project,” Ms. Ngcobo concluded.

The project blends perfectly with the values of creativity and innovation championed by the University’s Envision2030, as it will require constant innovative thinking and creativity of learners and teachers to ensure that the project is firstly sustainable, and secondly, profitable. 

The project also falls seamlessly in line with the words of DUT Vice Chancellor and Principal Professor Thandwa Zizwe Mthembu when he speaks about DUT being fundamentally creative.

“We approach all that we do with a spirit of innovation, with an entrepreneurial mindset, and with a burning desire to find new solutions, to innovate, to create opportunities out of societal problems, and to apply our collective knowledge and skills, creativity and innovations, in unique and exciting ways,” Prof Mthembu explains.

“All of the above is coded in our DNA; the source of our collective being the source of all we will still become,” Prof Mthembu remarked.

The Acting Consul General at the U.S Consulate General in Durban, Miss. Jaclyn Cole expressed delight at having partnered with innobiz in bringing the project to far flung rural Nkandla.

“I know this has been an ongoing project with DUT. It is an absolute pleasure. I tell my colleagues that I have the best job in the embassy, because I do not just have to sit in meetings and meet with government officials, I get to meet with real people and we get to connect Americans and South Africans through projects like these,” Cole said.

Miss Cole shared that her parents were from farming towns in America and Jamaica in how she understood the importance of agriculture, science, and technology in changing people’s lives.

“I understand how agriculture and education can be transformative. Our real pleasure is when we can see and connect partnerships not just between institutions, but between people. We are so glad to connect DUT with the University of Alabama and with Loyola University,” Miss. Cole explained.

In her address, Miss. Cole further explained that with these types of university partnerships we can see hands-on results in communities such as Nkandla where students can do experiential learning through agriculture and apply science through technology and agricultural business practices.

In conclusion, Miss. Cole expressed delight at being at Nkandla for the handover of the gardening tools.

“We hope that these resources go a long way into teaching our students and helping them to grow. We hope to see future farmers and future scientists among this group, not just in the future but right now. We are appreciative of the opportunity of being a part of this handover today,” Miss. Cole said in conclusion.

 

Mr. Ntandoyenkosi Mpofana, innobiz DUT Stakeholder Relations, Marketing and Communications Officer, in his role as the programme director for the day, also imparted some words of wisdom to the learners.

Mr. Mpofana told the learners that given the gardens they had been able to produce without adequate resources, the sky was now definitely not the limit with the added resources available to them to enhance what they had already started.

“Various other schools, and the communities can look from this, see actual tangible outcomes, and implement the same because we are trying to plant a seed of success by starting with making that first initial step.

“We are looking forward to continuing to give back to communities and planting that agricultural, or even entrepreneurial seed because it will start by just planting that seed and it will grow into something creative from there,” Mr. Mpofana stated.

 

Senamile Dlangalala, innobiz DUT Centre Secretary and the project administrator, expressed that it had been a pleasure for her to work in conjunction with the schools to make the dream of the project a realisation.

“I must say that you are lucky to be selected for this project because out of the 166 schools that are here at Nkandla you were the chosen ones.

“It has been really amazing to work with you, you are a very proactive group, and I am confident that these tools we are handing over to you will not collect dust because we have seen the pictures of the activities that you have been doing without these tools,” Ms. Dlangalala said.

She went to add that the having the gardening tools at their disposal would ensure that the project is sustainable in the schools and expressed confidence that when the innobiz DUT team and its partners return to Nkandla for a progress report the schools would be making profits due to the tools handed over to them to work their gardens.

“The learners can also apply what is taught to them here at school in their own homes because this can help end the challenge of poverty in our homes while it ensures food security to all of us,” Ms. Dlangalala declared.