South Africa - Tourism - Hydroponic farming scheme for community upliftent

Richard Msengi and Gladys Mgakula work in one of the poly-tunnels of a hydroponic farming scheme in the Makuleke Village which supplies fresh vegetables to lodges in the nearby Kruger National Park. This scheme is half owned by the community and half owned by Wilderness Safaris. It is one of the benefits of a unique conservation deal linked to their new ownership of part of the Kruger National Park. The Makuleke tribe were forcibly removed from their land in 1969 by the apartheid authorities. In 1998 the land was returned to them, but they agreed not to reoccupy it and that it would be used for eco-tourism with commercial benefits flowing back to the them. Wilderness Safaris have established the luxurious Pafuri Lodge on their land with a lease where the Makuleke benefit from skills transfer, job creation, training, and community development projects like this. (Photo by Gideon Mendel/Corbis via Getty Images)