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Establishing SustainableRural Economies: Developing from Natural Origins |
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Photos, captions and audio by Janet Jarman
The Tlholego Development Project (TDP) in South Africa's North West province is a model of village settlement and rural economic development because it integrates traditional African designs, modern technology, and lessons learned from around the world. This village of 50 residents, plus extended families, provides a holistic approach to human settlement. Tlholego's residents are increasingly self reliant and confident. Their community supports land tenure, local economic development, the construction of sustainable housing, and restoration of links to the natural environment to promote a sustainable lifestyle. The Challenge For diverse reasons – separation policies during apartheid, the proliferation of large farm systems, and rapid industrialization and subsequent migration to urban areas – many South Africans have become alienated from formerly thriving rural areas in recent decades. Policies of mobile labor and lack of land tenure have disrupted family structures, forcing workers to leave their partners, dependent children, and elders in homeland villages. |
Land
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Housing |
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Permaculture |
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Human
Capital |
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Paul
Cohen |
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These conditions have discouraged family food production and self-reliance in rural areas because South Africans have become more and more dependent on urban centers for employment and survival. Despite new found political freedom in recent years, many South Africans still face significant obstacles to achieving economic freedom.
In addition to the challenges of entering a highly competitive global economy, the millions of South Africans living in poverty have an overwhelming need for land tenure, jobs, housing, and food. Efforts to resettle these residents constitute perhaps the largest challenge facing the new South Africa. As a result, low-cost housing solutions from all around the world have flooded in, as foreign and domestic companies vie for space in a potentially lucrative market. Yet, the resulting hastily-built settlements rarely meet residents' basic needs, and leave little possibility for community growth. Developing from Natural Origins To address some of these concerns, South African native Paul Cohen started Tlholego in 1991 after purchasing a 300-acre, marginally productive farm near the city of Rustenburg, two hours drive northwest of Johannesburg. Here, he began to build a homestead that introduces new forms of community organization for both for rural and urban areas of South Africa, using ecological principles for guidance. Recreating sustainable rural villages may help to balance migration from the countryside to overcrowded cities. Tlholego's name comes from an ancient Tswana word meaning "developing from natural origins." The project follows principles of permaculture in an eco-village context. It works for people and communities living in rural poverty, builds long-term capital and is widely replicable. Tlholego is comprised of three core components: the Tlholego Educational Institute, which researches, develops training programs and provides a nurturing environment for growth on a human and economic level; the Tlholego Residential Village, which employees eco-village design, permaculture, and natural building to create a residential model for land tenure, sustainable housing, and local economy; and the Tshedimosong Farm School, a primary-secondary school that provides basic education to 120 children from the surrounding farming community.
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