Klocker, Natascha Associate Professor

The Sunraysia Burundian Garden arose via a collaboration between researchers from UOW (Natascha Klocker) and the University of Melbourne (Lesley Head, Olivia Dun), former refugees from Burundi (living in Mildura) and Sunraysia Local Food Future. <br /><br />Many refugees come from agricultural backgrounds, but face obstacles to farming once in Australia. Our research in Mildura (funded via an ARC Discovery Project, 2014-2017) showed that many former refugees living in Australia have a desire to access land on which to grow culturally important crops, but can't afford to do so due to the cost of farmland. Some former refugees also struggle to access employment (due to low English fluency), and thus experience protracted unemployment. To date, the Federal Government has not put strategies in place that make the most of refugees’ existing skills as farmers, despite implementing a rural and regional refugee resettlement programme. Following interviews with Mildura's Burundian community, we organised a stakeholder workshop in Mildura in May 2016. The goal: how could we come together to match ‘landless’ refugee farmers with unused farmland? <br /><br />The workshop (hosted by Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic Communities Council and Mildura Development Council) kick-started the Food Next Door (FND) project and the Sunraysia Burundian Garden. Following the workshop, volunteers from Sunraysia Local Food Future arranged access to one-acre of farmland; use of which was generously donated by a local business, Sunraysia Produce. The Burundian community planted their first crop of maize in September 2016, and this was successfully harvested in January 2017. The community will plant an additional crop in September/October 2017, and we are currently supporting them to apply for funding to purchase a maize milling machine to produce traditional maize flour: a staple part of the Burundian diet.<br /><br />In addition to a successful maize harvest, evaluation interviews have revealed multiple impacts. This project has contributed to the Burundian community's sense of belonging in Mildura, and also to their physical and mental wellbeing. It has enabled them to demonstrate their farming skills and knowledge to the broader Mildura community, through growing a culturally important food crop. The project has also reduced isolation, particularly for women, by providing a productive activity that they can work towards as a group. Equally, it has strengthened connections between the Burundian community and the broader Mildura community, and has supported inter-generational transfer of traditional farming practices between adult members of the Burundian community and their children.<br /><br />The project has generated positive spin-offs. The Burundian community has been offered an additional two acres of farmland, enabling their farming project to grow. Further, the success of our work in Mildura attracted publicity, leading farmers in Meroo Meadow (near Nowra) to approach us with a desire to do something similar. We were successful in attracting funding through a UOW Community Engagement Grant to make that happen. Finally, Food Next Door is seeking funding to create a community farm that extends the benefits of the Sunraysia Burundian Garden to a broader range of marginalised groups.

The Sunraysia Burundian Garden arose via a collaboration between researchers from UOW (Natascha Klocker) and the University of Melbourne (Lesley Head, Olivia Dun), former refugees from Burundi (living in Mildura) and Sunraysia Local Food Future. <br /><br />Many refugees come from agricultural backgrounds, but face obstacles to farming once in Australia. Our research in Mildura (funded via an ARC Discovery Project, 2014-2017) showed that many former refugees living in Australia have a desire to access land on which to grow culturally important crops, but can't afford to do so due to the cost of farmland. Some former refugees also struggle to access employment (due to low English fluency), and thus experience protracted unemployment. To date, the Federal Government has not put strategies in place that make the most of refugees’ existing skills as farmers, despite implementing a rural and regional refugee resettlement programme. Following interviews with Mildura's Burundian community, we organised a stakeholder workshop in Mildura in May 2016. The goal: how could we come together to match ‘landless’ refugee farmers with unused farmland? <br /><br />The workshop (hosted by Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic Communities Council and Mildura Development Council) kick-started the Food Next Door (FND) project and the Sunraysia Burundian Garden. Following the workshop, volunteers from Sunraysia Local Food Future arranged access to one-acre of farmland; use of which was generously donated by a local business, Sunraysia Produce. The Burundian community planted their first crop of maize in September 2016, and this was successfully harvested in January 2017. The community will plant an additional crop in September/October 2017, and we are currently supporting them to apply for funding to purchase a maize milling machine to produce traditional maize flour: a staple part of the Burundian diet.<br /><br />In addition to a successful maize harvest, evaluation interviews have revealed multiple impacts. This project has contributed to the Burundian community's sense of belonging in Mildura, and also to their physical and mental wellbeing. It has enabled them to demonstrate their farming skills and knowledge to the broader Mildura community, through growing a culturally important food crop. The project has also reduced isolation, particularly for women, by providing a productive activity that they can work towards as a group. Equally, it has strengthened connections between the Burundian community and the broader Mildura community, and has supported inter-generational transfer of traditional farming practices between adult members of the Burundian community and their children.<br /><br />The project has generated positive spin-offs. The Burundian community has been offered an additional two acres of farmland, enabling their farming project to grow. Further, the success of our work in Mildura attracted publicity, leading farmers in Meroo Meadow (near Nowra) to approach us with a desire to do something similar. We were successful in attracting funding through a UOW Community Engagement Grant to make that happen. Finally, Food Next Door is seeking funding to create a community farm that extends the benefits of the Sunraysia Burundian Garden to a broader range of marginalised groups.