Sow The Seed: Crowdfunding To Bring Back Aboriginal Agriculture
Who are Bruce Pascoe & the Gurandgi Munjie?
Inspiration
Bruce Pascoe is an Australian Indigenous writer from the Bunurong clan of the Kulin nation and part of the Gurandgi Munjie, a group of Aboriginal people determined to recover the traditional food plants of their culture.
Journey
The Gurandgi Munjie grow yams, grains, tubers, fruits and more on many garden plots across New South Wales and Victoria to recover traditional Indigenous ingredients and "start Australia on a whole new agricultural journey".
The Project
Bruce Pascoe and the Gurandgi Munjie set out to raise $25,000 to provide employment and training for young Aboriginal people and to supply healthy products to Australian from plants suited to Australian conditions. Their setup included two green houses, irrigation systems and the employment of two Indigenous persons.
Pascoe used his popularity as an author to share the message of Sow The Seed effectively through the media, bringing light to their project and the positive outcome.
All of the money raised via the campaign went to the establishment of plantations at Berry, Genoa, Mallacoota and Apollo Bay, as well as providing employment to workers. A young Aboriginal Yuin woman was one of those employed through this program, and it provided her not only a job but recovery from a recent trauma.
— Bruce Pascoe
"Many of the contributors to Pozible last year have reported success with growing plants from the seed they received as part of their reward."
The Campaign
On the 22nd of December 2015 'Sow The Seed: Aboriginal Agriculture' closed with $32,874 pledged in total from 313 supporters, more than $7K over their target of $25,000.