Project Grow

by Zero2Five Trust

KwaZulu-Natal Poverty Alleviation Education Job Creation Health Care Environment

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Different Donations

Direct Donations

R 156,510

Funded to date

R 156,510

Goal

This project is raising funds to establish 15 climate-resilient food gardens at Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in rural KwaZulu-Natal. These gardens will provide nutritious meals to 500 children under 5, enhancing their development. We'll train 15 ECD practitioners and 5 youth in gardening and nutrition, ensuring sustainable gardens that improve food security for the wider community.

About Zero2Five Trust

Zero2Five is a non-profit organisation established in 2014 to promote holistic Early Childhood Development in formerly disadvantaged areas in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. We have a bold vision to create a future where every child in South Africa thrives by the age of five. We achieve our vision by focusing on improved nutrition, health and educational outcomes for children under five in marginalised communities by utilising an integrated, community-centred and sustainable systems approach through Early Childhood Development Centres. Our Theory of Change takes a three-pronged approach ensuring that (1) ECD practitioners have strengthened their capacity and are running sustainable ECD Centres offering quality early-learning programmes, (2) children have an improved nutrition status through adequate nutrition, food security and sanitation and (3) children’s physical, cognitive, and emotional development is age appropriate to ensure they reach their full potential to start formal schooling. In 2025, we have 321 unfunded pre-schools on our programmes, caring for over 11 000 children.

Project Grow

The statistics on poverty and inequality in South Africa are concerning, especially their impact on children. Massive inequalities persist in the experiences of children in their first five years, evident in outcomes at ages 4 to 5. Many poor children face significant barriers to success before starting school, affecting their long-term prospects and reinforcing cycles of poverty.

According to UNICEF 2020, 62.1% of children experience multidimensional poverty in South Africa, aligning with an income poverty rate of 67%. Multidimensionally poor children are mainly in rural areas, particularly in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Limpopo. The overlap of children being both multidimensionally and income-poor is 42%, especially strong in rural areas. In May 2024, the cost of feeding a child a basic nutritious diet was R955 (50 USD) per month, while the Child Support Grant of R530 is 30% below the Food Poverty Line and 45% below the average cost to feed a child.

Zero2Five has in the past 5 years assisted 58 pre-schools with the installation of fenced ECD centre-based food gardens and regular on-site training and mentoring of the staff. Readily available, fresh produce does not only help with the quantity of food but also serves to improve the dietary diversity of the children’s meals.

All our work is conducted in collaboration with the communities we serve and various NGO partners to ensure complementarity and community buy-in. This collaborative approach allows us to refer individuals to other organisations that offer additional skills and services. For the next group of 15 ECD centres, we have already secured partnerships to assist with basic irrigation of the gardens, gardening tools, fruit trees and seedlings. Our direct engagement with ECD centres ensures the sustainability of our efforts, benefiting multiple generations of children with adequate support before they begin school.

Project activity

2

Dec

Anonymous donated R198.85 to Project Grow 4 months ago

Funded to date:

R 156,510

Funding goal: R 156,510

NGO: Zero2Five Trust

Start: 1st March 2025

End: 22nd January 2026

NPO: 150-606 NPO

Field agent: Julika Falconer
julika@zero2five.org.za

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