FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Women, power, and economic sustainability

Assertiveness remains one of the most crucial attributes for young people, particularly young women, in the Eastern Cape, to have. The desires and efforts of the women of ePhondweni, as the province is affectionately referred to, are significant – expressed in their chosen areas of operation, their vision, and their passions, and then ploughed back into the life of the province despite the innumerable economic barriers and social constraints that hinder cultural innovation here. 

Some of these challenges are rooted in narrow and misogynistic cultural and traditional reasoning, which seeks to circumscribe the roles women are permitted to play, with access to opportunities policed by patriarchal hierarchies that are reinforced by agents of both genders.

Some participants in the Power Talks sessions in both Bhisho and Gqeberha spoke of having to grapple with the reality of changing, blending or downgrading their career ambitions to advance themselves, their families, and their children towards a better future.

These are the words of writer and filmmaker Noxolo Nelana: ‘It took me so many years to get to this place, where I know how to take the sum of me and put it back into something that is meaningful, and that can benefit others as well. I think I have found that place and it is unrealistic to expect everyone to find their centre in their career.’

Nelana’s life experiences, although challenging, have spurred her on and fortified her resolve to make a success of her pursuits, even though she knows her path would likely be easier if she chose to relocate to one of South Africa’s larger and wealthier cities. (One of the commonly heard aspirations among women in the Eastern Cape is simply to be afforded opportunities in media, film, and marketing of the same number and magnitude as those in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.) Nelana cited the new generation of Eastern Cape women who will stand on her shoulders as her main inspiration to persevere.

ePhondweni continues to challenge and disadvantage women, to the extent that a new language of power and influence is emerging to help us make sense of this phenomenon. No people remain oppressed forever; neither will the young women of this province – who are discovering new means by which to sustain their lives and support their families, while innovating in the cultural economy and food industries, among other arenas – remain so. 

Agriculture and food production are central to the sustainability of all human systems, with food playing an integral socio-cultural role, and featuring prominently in most contemporary rituals.  

Modes of food production and use are continuously evolving. People may no longer depend exclusively on wood for their energy needs, for example, but they continue to use it make furniture, stationery, and for communal and recreational cooking in the form of the braai (barbecue). Fewer people of ePhondweni now engage in subsistence farming, relying increasingly on supermarket purchases. 

One of the Power Talks Bhisho conversations touched on the functions of food in art and cultural production. Culinary entrepreneur, teacher, and writer Khululani Jobo shared the following: ‘I found ways of making money. I started baking and selling at creative events like poetry sessions. Then people started bringing kids and they asked me to make something kids could eat. I had to research.’

Jobo said that pursuing cooking studies was prohibitive, but she was able to enrol in an NGO programme, which helped her to formally learn the craft. Confidently, she asserted that now her ‘approach is to use what I have access to. I’ve got a garden at home.’ 

Filmmaker Noxolo Nelana also shared her story, which had many parallels to Jobo’s.
‘I had this idea to get into farming,’ she said. ‘I wanted to teach myself how to produce food. I want to have access to land at a commercially viable scale, but I need to find ways to incorporate all my skills and passions to ensure alignment with my focus on skills development.’

Nelana’s skills development company focuses on media production: she enlists young people from across the province and capacitates them in film-making and related skills. She observed that humans have always sought ways out of poverty and to deal with its impacts, which the contemporary focus on empowering women has proven to be especially effective. Women today are positioned to change not only their own circumstances, but those of their families and society at large. Photographer, graphic designer, and videographer Lonwabo Ngcwayi, for instance, characterized rural women as having the capacity ‘to feed everyone in the village’.

Olwam Mnqwazi can be found online at
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