Ubuntu Mundo Q1 2024 Update

Feed the Children of the World – 2024 Goals

Ubuntu Mundo has plans for tremendous growth in 2024. Operations in Bodlayabongolo continue to thrive, and we are in the process of opening a new project site in the neighboring community of Bolla Tau. Together, the two locations will allow us to reach our goal of providing healthy meals to 1,000 children by the end of 2024. In addition, we are expanding our commercial farming initiative, a social enterprise that will generate revenue to feed children and our future growth. Our mission is to feed children and uplift communities, and everything we do starts with food.

 

Feeding

In 2016, we started feeding children in Bodlayabongolo. Our process has changed over the years, and we have grown to establish our own kitchen and garden. During the pandemic, we expanded into a second community, operating with another organization on their land. At the end of 2023, due to a difference in values, we ended our relationship with the feeding program in Rooiboklaagte. We tried our best to find a way to serve that community through other channels with no success. The decision to leave that project was very difficult but we must be true to our values and your trust in us.

Around the same time, we were approached by the Chief of Bolla Tau, a nearby community. They invited us to open a kitchen and feeding program in their community in need. They offered us a right to occupy the Bolla Tau land, and we will build, staff, and manage all operations at this new project site. The kitchen is currently under construction and scheduled to open in June.

UNESCO has reported that investments in food programs for children have an outsized impact on children’s lives – it is an investment in their health, wellbeing, and in them as learners, leading to greater future opportunities. They believe that food programs deliver $9 in returns for every $1 invested. This is another confirmation that we feel we are on the right track to have a real impact.

 

Farming

From our founding, we have sought to create a sustainable model that can be relied upon to feed children far into the future. To this end, we have created a social enterprise engaged in commercial farming to generate revenue to fuel our feeding programs. We began with a ½ hectare pilot program in 2023, which was extremely successful, and in 2024 we are expanding to a full-scale commercial farming program on eight hectares of farmland. The revenue generated by our commercial farming will fund expansion of our feeding program into new communities and will contribute to our goal of becoming self-sustaining over time. This initiative will create up to 30 full-time jobs and 100% of the net profit will go toward funding existing programs and as a platform for continued growth.

Our goals are ambitious but achievable. We thank you for being our partner on this journey. Together we are improving the health and wellbeing of hundreds of children, benefits that serve them today and long into the future.

 

Ubuntu!