The Community and Home Food Gardening Programme was initiated in 1993 with members of the Grahamstown Township. Participants came from a cross-section of impoverished communities including several informal settlements. In 1998, the 3-year School Gardens Programme was started in 4 township schools and now services 40 township and rural schools. Umthathi was registered as a Non Profit Organisation with the Department of Social Development in October 2000. “Umthathi” is the Xhosa word for Sneezewood and in the Xhosa culture, it symbolises strength and renewal of life. This is the ideal underlying of our vision, which is to reawaken the skills that lie dormant in poor and disadvantaged communities. People need to be reminded that they posses the strength to change their lives and those of others. By gaining more skills they can better their own lives, and ultimately use these skills to train others, thereby not only creating employment for themselves, but also uplifting other lives.