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Martha's Story
Helping displaced communities to farm again
63-year-old widow Martha Papier is part of a group of small farmers who, for the first time, gained access to grazing land as part of the land reform programme in South Africa.
But without livestock, the land cannot provide a sustainable income stream to support Martha or the two young grandchildren that are wholly dependent on her.
Martha received 10 Dorper sheep ewes through a FARM-Africa project. Having the sheep has given Martha a real boost to her lifestyle: she can sell or barter their wool for her family’s needs. She has also been able to breed the sheep, building up her own livestock holding to 14 ewes and a ram, and selling on lambs to other farmers.
Martha has since ‘repaid’ the investment on the sheep by returning one that she has bred for every one she has received, so that other families can benefit. She still walks 10km a day to take care of her animals, and is proud of the opportunities that her hard work and the Dorper sheep have made possible for her and her family.
