Launching in 2019, the United African Farm project has brought in people from across a number of cultures from Cardinia and beyond. Gazette journalist MATTHEW SIMS spoke with United African Farm co-founder and Officer resident Thuch Ajak about the success of the project so far and the hopes for the project’s future.
Fresh okra, yams, cassava and sweet potato sprout from a plot of land on Fowler Road in Cardinia.
Typically known as African tropical crops, they are prospering at the United African Farm.
While the volunteers at the United African Farm work hard every Saturday, co-founder Thuch Ajak said the project was an opportunity for people from across Africa and beyond to unite under a common goal and discuss their cultures and share a common love – the love for fresh produce and good food.
Receiving a Honours and a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture majoring in Crop Protection in South Sudan, he migrated to Australia in 2015, after working as a head of the Plant Protection department in the South Sudanese Ministry of Agriculture and also running an agricultural business which was delivering training.
With his passion for farming, Mr Ajak volunteered at CERES in Brunswick East in 2018.
However, it was a chance meeting with Mama Queyea Tuazama at a pop-up garlic workshop at the Collingwood Children’s Farm which changed his dreams forever, with the pair planting the seeds which would eventually germinate into the United African Farm project.
The project began in March 2019, thanks to the support of the Pick My Project grants initiative and as part of the Australian Food Network’s Sustain program, which helps co-ordinate a national network of organisations and institutions who work together to develop and implement practical solutions to food system problems.
Mr Ajak said the project quickly drew in volunteers from South Sudan, Sudan, Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Ethiopia, starting with an initial group of 30 before growing to their current base of 80 members.
“We meet as a like-minded people from African descent,“ he said.
“We started doing ground mobilisations, meeting with people and started with around 30 people and then it moved up to 80.
“We had people from 10 African countries.“
The United African Farm shared their initial plot of land in Longwarry with Pakenham Secondary School.
The first year was a success for the project, with the farm hosting three harvest festivals in 2019.
However, with their connection with the Sustain project coming to an end after a year, they lost the land in Longwarry.
This also coincided with the start of the Covid lockdowns, bringing the conversation about where they could take the project next to online spaces.
Thanks to support from Cardinia Council and the Cardinia Food Movement, the team received three acres of land from local farmer David Young, with one acre allocated to the carpark and another acre slated to host African huts – known as tukul – in the future.
“You get to learn about different cultures in Africa, you get to learn where similarities are, where the differences are, different food,“ he said.
Work on the Cardinia farm began with fencing out the three-acre property and activating the 15 garden beds, before planting began and the official relaunch in February 2022, attended by more than 300 people.
“We got a lot of community support,“ Mr Ajak said.
“We had a lot of food to be harvested on the day.“
However, disaster came later in 2022, in the form of a flood.
“All our stuff was submerged,“ Mr Ajak said.
“We organised again, came in, did the clean up, mowed down, cleared the area and then we started activating again.“
More community support came in the form of solar panels donated by Clenergy Australia to allow the farm to operate off-grid.
Mr Ajak said the project was still struggling with working out how to best harness the power of the land with other challenges.
“We’ve been struggling a lot, especially with the soil, with the natural climate change,“ he said.
Thanks to support from VicHealth, the United African Farm team has been able to launch the Ubuntu Food Hub, which engages two young people via a traineeship program over a year
Mr Ajak said the main aim of the project was to create a sense of social cohesion and a sense of cultural belonging, especially in young people.
“Sometimes people within the vacuum would have an opinion of your culture but if you are there and you can teach people what your culture is, then everybody can learn between each other,“ he said.
“The overall goal is to empower and engage young people.
“Another one is to bridge the inter-generational gaps and cultural gaps among ourselves and also the wider community.“
Mr Ajak said the ways in which young African people living in Australia was changing, but the power of meeting with people of different cultures and generations was an effective icebreaker.
“Having to meet on the farm, you can have an elderly person, you can have a young person, so you have that space whereby a young person can ask a cultural question to understand something,“ he said.
“It becomes easier to have that community in between the two generations.“
Mr Ajak said there were often a wide variety of cultures found within one country alone.
“I come from South Sudan,“ he said.
“We have 64 tribes, 64 tribes have 64 cultures, 64 languages.
“For me to talk with them, there has to be a cause, somewhere where we can meet together and have those conversations happening.“
Mr Ajak said the value of the initiative as a driver of social cohesion was also obvious, especially during and after the Covid pandemic.
“A lot of people really suffered isolation because of the lockdown and it tends to take a toll on mental health,“ he said.
“We sit together and we talk, so that builds that connection and you go away and feel that friendship.“
According to Mr Ajak, the last impact the farm has had on the broader African community was allowing communities to tell their own story outside of the media’s portrayal or interpretations of African communities.
“We are a vehicle of a positive narrative,“ he said.
“We are here to showcase our culture.
“We don’t want to keep our culture to ourselves.“
Mr Ajak said the farm also acted as a touchstone for young people to find their identity, especially those who come from another background but who were born in Australia.
“They can navigate their way, they are able to meet people, they are able to have conversations with people and that would build into their skills and make them more successful people as they continue to navigate their way,“ he said.
Mr Ajak said the farm was enjoying their new greenhouse or poly tunnel, to allow for seed production, propagation and a new crop of Egyptian spinach or kudra now being planted.
The farm has also partnered with University of Melbourne’s urban agriculture lecturer Dr Chris Williams, via his Novel Crops Project.
Mr Ajak said the farm also hoped to host chickens on the farm and launch a commercial kitchen to cook traditional meals using the produce on site, with a recipe book out soon.
The United African Farm hosts markets at Living and Learning Pakenham every Tuesday.
For more information, visit unitedafricanfarm.org
