Meet the people

Josephine Fitzmaurice

OZCF head farmer

A former biology and TEFL teacher, Jo says she had always been curious about how commodities are moved around the world, so she “went back to school” to study the customs formalities around importing and exporting. She ultimately headed up an export division for a clearing and forwarding company in Camps Bay. “It’s fascinating work, but also very stressful. When my late husband suggested I just enjoy life for a while, I did so for two years and I really hated it. I felt I had plenty still to give. We also lived in a community where there wasn’t a lot of community spirit. People didn’t know one another. That wasn’t the way I wanted to live. That wasn’t how I wanted my grandchildren to live. So it was about finding the right thing.”

When she discovered the farm shortly after its beginnings in 2012, she expressed an interest which resulted in bringing her diverse set of skills into play as head farmer in early 2013. “I saw this farm as a place where we could build a community platform, a place where people could come and hang out with like-minded folk. The focus was originally on building community in Oranjezicht, but that has shifted and become much wider. Many people come here from way beyond the city to drop off bokashi or to tend their allotments. We see the growing of food as a tool to upskill and educate people.”

One of the OZCF outreach projects is helping develop an agri/food hub as a pilot scheme in Langa, Cape Town’s oldest township. It is located on a site owned by the International Red Cross in the Langa Cultural Precinct, adjacent to an existing food garden. The goal is to help support small-scale farmers with an infrastructure and the ability to market their produce – and to improve household nutrition and food security.

“The concept is that it would become a community garden with facilities for washing and packaging. Currently, there are about 25 vegetable projects around Langa; the aim is for them to bring their produce to the hub, where it will be prepared for sale and transported out. Much of the compost we make at OZCF has gone there. Water tanks have been donated. We can already see that the farmers have been able to ramp up their game, and things are looking really good.”