Januarie 2020
Worker Committees can be described as the 'engine rooms' of project planning and execution on Foundation partner farms.
With support from the Foundation as well as farm owners and management, these committees are elected by the farmworkers and carry the responsibility of identifying specific needs on the farm, deciding which projects would most benefit the workers and their families, and making sure allocated funds are spent within the time frame relevant to each project.
We visited the worker committee of Thornlands Farms just outside Swellendam in the Western Cape and this committee is still showing signs of exciting positive growth.
Thornlands is a member of Market Demand Fruits, an exporting company. The committee is performing the key roles of project planning and implementation quite well after 3 years of working in partnership with the Waitrose Foundation. Their current focus includes the completion of a 'girl child' project, developmental interventions over weekends in their local communities, as well as a repeat of their highly successful Educational Tour for willing and available workers.
We look forward to our continued partnership with this team and seeing more value added to this community in 2020.
