“After my partner and I were attacked in our home, we had a lot of questions about how to help improve the safety of our neighbourhood and  a create a sense of community where neighbours don’t hide behind high walls,” said Sheryl Ozinsky, co-founder of Oranjezicht City Farm (OZCF), a non-profit project celebrating local food, culture and community in Cape Town, South Africa. 

The Oranjezicht City Farm was one of the 2023 winners of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund, winning the ‘Strengthening Community Connection’ category for their incredible work in community-building. We spoke with co-founder Sheryl Ozinsky about the creation of OZCF and her vision for the future of sustainable organic farming after winning funding from the Xero Beautiful Business Fund. 

Creating a community through good food

“[After the incident], we realised that we needed to make our community safer and more liveable. Nothing brings people together more than good food. Whether you’re a mama in the townships or someone who lives in the leafy suburbs, everyone likes to eat. So a group of us residents started a community vegetable garden on an old neglected bowling green. Neighbours came out with their kids, picked their own veggies, and met and talked to each other, and we solved issues that were a concern for us.

Then, we started a small market in 2013 next to the garden as a way of raising funds to pay for the garden’s upkeep. We didn’t have enough produce from the garden, so we reached out to other small-scale organic farmers and traders as demand grew. 

Fast forward ten years, the market is now located at the V&A Waterfront, has over 100 traders who sell everything from meat to fish and cheese, hosts over 10,000 visitors a week, and supports over 35 organic farmers. The market is the bridge that connects small-scale farmers with consumers,” Sheryl explained.

Running a farmers’ market on a large scale in a commercial environment like the V&A Waterfront can be challenging; bad weather conditions can affect the supply and discourage customers from visiting. “To compete with very strong supermarket chains – as we have in South Africa – you need to be on your entrepreneurial toes and interrogate how the business is doing from one week to the next, and year to year,” said Sheryl. “Xero has helped us enormously to keep track of our business, understand how we are performing and where we can improve. It’s helped us to avoid carrying any bad debt.”

“If you live in South Africa, there’s a level of responsibility that you carry to not only look after yourself, but to look after others as well. That’s what winning the fund is helping us to do.”

Sheryl Ozinsky, co-founder of Oranjezicht City Farm

Winning the Xero Beautiful Business Fund 

OZCF intends to widen their reach to more farmers and communities around South Africa, but capacity and funding is limited. “We wanted to help organic farmers across the country to start their own farmers markets in their communities,” explained Sheryl. 

“Last year, we worked with the Participatory Guarantee Systems South Africa (PGSSA), a body that certifies small-scale organic farmers as being PGS Organic. With the help of the Xero funding, we created an online course that guides farmers on how to set up farmers’ markets. The course, which ran once a week over four months, was completed by 300 people and we printed a guide book that was distributed to all the attendees.” 

Sheryl heard about the Xero Beautiful Business Fund from Susan van der Valk, the market’s accountant and a partner at MGI Bass Gordon.

“The entry process was simple; just film a short video and send it in. Tell your story, which also gives you the chance to stop and reflect on your journey,” says Sheryl. “It was a massive surprise to hear that we had won.”

Passing on the torch

“If you live in South Africa, there’s a level of responsibility that you carry to not only look after yourself, but to look after others as well. That’s what winning the fund is helping us to do,” said Sheryl. “We can help establish more farmers’ markets around the country, creating a pull for organic produce and encouraging communities to eat healthy food.” 

“So far, two new markets have been established this year, one in KwaZulu-Natal and another in Limpopo,” says Sheryl. 

We’re thrilled to share that the Xero Beautiful Business Fund is back for 2024 and entries are officially open.

The 2023 winners are an incredible group of small businesses and nonprofits who are passionate about solving problems and making an impact in their local communities. We’re spotlighting some of our past winners to hear more about how the fund has impacted their business and helped them achieve their goals.

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