Mbabane Urban Garden Project, Eswatini

September 2023

The Urban Garden Projectis situated in the centre of Mbabane, just off a main road on what was a council dump site. It is next to a wetland, and water is drained from the wetland into an underground tank and then pumped up to the highest point to irrigate the garden.

Planting is in old car tyres which are arranged in a spiral.  There are two permanent staff who have been trained in permaculture, and they are involved in the on-going development. Care is taken to make the garden attractive as well as functional.

Workshops are given on composting. Good compost is essential in small-scale urban gardening. The tutor encourages and teaches small scale organic gardening. There are usually fifteen participants drawn from the nearby community. This is the maximum for each workshop and there is a waiting list of people keen to attend.

All the materials are what people have at home: dried grass, dead leaves, manure, ash, vegetable waste…..Then all help to build a new compost heap, adding each layer in turn. Moisture level and temperature are crucial, and all participants are shown how to monitor these.

The participants are shown how to sow seeds in tyres filled with previously made compost. The emphasis is on making the best use of a small space.

Everyone leaves with a basic set of garden tools, a bag of compost and some seedlings.

Of workshops conducted so far Feb 2024

  • Number of participants (direct beneficiaries) = 25 (11 males, 14 females)
  • Number of indirect beneficiaries = 161
  • Number of starter kits distributed = 25
  • Number of participant follow ups/home visits = 18 (72% of participants)
  • Number of participants who initiated a backyard garden since the workshop = 4 (22% of follow ups)
  • Number of follow ups who planted the seedlings from starter kit = 18 (100%)
  • Number of follow ups whose seedlings had survived = 16 (89%)
  • Number of follow ups who have put the skills they learnt from the workshop into use = 14 (78%)