Soil for Life – ‘Re-establishing the harmony between the Earth and its people’

For Pat Featherstone, who founded Soil for Life in 2003, ‘everything is linked’! Her organization shows that a holistic approach with marginalized communities is the key to have a positive impact. From practical trainings in organic farming to health and well-being, Soil for Life managed to improve the life of thousands of people in Africa. The Soil for Life Education Center in Cape Town is a great place to see low-cost, water-wise and environmentally-friendly technologies used in whatever small space available. Don’t wait, go to visit it!

Why Soil for Life was created 11 years ago?

Pat Featherstone, founder of Soil for Life: The first reason is environmental concern and the second one is food security issues. There is a problem is South Africa with the quality of food. Poverty alleviation was another reason why I created Soil for Life.

So, you identified these problems and you decided to do something?

It goes back to when I was at school in the sixties. There were so many predictions that were made about the future. I started wandering: ‘what can I do about it?’ – instead of feeling hopeless. When I started teaching, I realized the lack of knowledge and the lack of caring in people. I have the passion to change things because I know that everybody can make a difference!

‘I have the passion to change things because I know that everybody can make a difference!’

How does it work today?

Our focus is to support people to grow their own food at home, so that they can eat something safe and nutritious. We also realized that unless building people up, you can’t get anywhere with anything. We help them to acknowledge that they have a potential to change their lives. Eventually, we look at people’s health and well-being, as obesity and diabetes have a lot of bad consequences in our society. We try to bring the positive thinking!

‘Our focus is to support people to grow their own food at home, so that they can eat something safe and nutritious. We also realized that unless building people up, you can’t get anywhere with anything.’

How many people have you trained in 11 years?

It is hard to say… maybe around 7 to 10 000 people! People we have trained a few years ago do their own training, inside and outside South Africa.

Could you give three words to describe the spirit of Soil for Life?

Energy, integrity, creativity.

What was the biggest challenge for the organization since the beginning?

Funding is always an issue, as we have to ensure that we have adequate funds to expand the programme and even to keep the programme running. A second thing is changing people’s mindsets! This is a major challenge, as it can take years to change the way a person thinks.

‘Changing people’s mindsets […] is a major challenge.’

Pat Featherstone, founder of Soil for Life

How do you see the evolution of Soil for Life in the next years?

At the beginning, poverty alleviation was the main focus. Now, things have completely turned around, and I see in the future an even greater demand for services liked with food security, health and well-being. We also need to grow our income generation projects, where people realize that they can make some money out of an activity they learn through Soil for Life.

For you, ecology is very linked with personal well-being?

Absolutely! There is such a link between nutrients, soil, plants… and human health! People are suffering from malnutrition, as they are not getting what they need for a healthy body. Out of the soil comes everything.

‘There is such a link between nutrients, soil, plants… and human health!’

Today a lot of young South Africans want to embark on an entrepreneurial adventure to improve society. Do you have a piece of advice for them?

In our programme we use waste, which is an available resource! So, my advice for young people is to look around them and start something with what they have got in their environment.

A last word?

The most satisfying thing anybody can do is to grow something that you eat, because it is like a meditation, it is a reconnection with nature… it is wonderful!