Nuts About MTO Forestry Initiative to Empower Women

The MTO Group concluded Women’s Month with the launch of a new chapter in its Groundnut Initiative – unveiling Siyatipilisa Smooth Peanut Butter, a brand produced and managed by the same women who grow the nuts. 

As MTO’s Chief Stakeholder Relations Officer, Itumeleng Langeni, explains, the story has been almost a decade in the making. “The Siyatipilisa Groundnut Project in White River, Mpumalanga, now involves 122 women, many of them breadwinners – grandmothers raising orphaned grandchildren. The project began by granting a handful of them access to 50 hectares of MTO’s eucalyptus plantations to inter-crop groundnuts. Our aim was to improve food security, provide new skills and offer hope for a better future.”

At the launch, that hope was visible in the faces of the women as they watched a video of their journey and learnt that MTO would become their first major customer, purchasing a 1kg tub for each of its 1 000-plus employees. Emotions in the room were palpable, it almost fizzed with the pride, joy and excitement that shone out of every woman there.

“Today marks the realisation of a long, hard-fought dream,” said Langeni. “These women have not been handed an opportunity – they have earned it. What began as a food security project has grown through their grit and determination, both in the plantations and the classroom. By developing entrepreneurial skills, they partnered with Kalinda Trading in 2021 to turn food security into an income-generating programme. Their continued drive has now taken it further, creating a peanut butter brand that is grown, managed and marketed by the women themselves.”

From a small agroforestry initiative to strengthen household nutrition, the initiative has become far more than a business – it is the realisation of hope. Siyatipilisa Smooth Peanut Butter stands as a symbol of empowerment, sustainability and hope – proof that with determination, anything is possible.

The eldest amongst the women, 94 year old Ivy Khoza, says the income from the Siyatipilisa groundnut project enables her to cater for her 13 grandchildren. ” I am fit, and the crop cultivation keeps me invigorated. No task is too big for me to tackle,” she says.