Bothaville, and the surrounding area, is one of the most important hubs when looking at maize production in South Africa. Monsanto, as an agricultural input supplier, is also focusing on this area for growth. But this is not only with regard to the growth of its portfolio in the commercial agricultural sector, but for the area as a whole.

Thusanang approached Monsanto in 2002 to assist with one of their self-help projects. A donation was made at that time and this year Monsanto again became involved with assistance to the organisation. Thusanang have a number of projects running and one of the most important is the AIDS project where they are looking at both educating the women on AIDS, as well as assisting people living with the disease.

Through discussions held with the organisation, it was felt that Monsanto could best assist the community by providing seed so that people can feed themselves. Monsanto felt that by educating and training people on good farming techniques as well as by providing excellent hybrid seed, we would be helping the community on a long-term basis.

The donation made today is approximately R20 000 worth of seed (some 70 bags), plus the training to the group of women who receives the seed.