The initiative is located in the winter rainfall area of South Africa at the south-west of the Western Cape Province.

Cold Mountain aims to demonstrate sustainable development through indigenous knowledge and agroecology to achieve a holistic and self-sustaining farm eco-system and to enable local communities to reach greater well-being through economic development, improved nutrition and food sovereignty.

The Cold Mountain Cooperative is a 100% member-owned business based on agroecological principles that processes and markets organic certified produce and wine produced by its members. The Cooperative provides a number of supplementary services to its members and local community including training in organic and sustainable production, provision of organic farming inputs to others in the community and providing support for the Overberg organic Participatory Guarantee System.

Practices used by Cold Mountain to improve soil and water management include the establishment of mulched and vegetated buffer zones, mulching the vineyards and orchards, using cereals and nitrogen fixing cover crops across the farm, and extensive construction of swales in cultivated lands to enhance infiltration of rainwater and prevent soil erosion.

This factsheet is produced within the framework of the Avaclim project, which aims to create the necessary conditions for the deployment of agroecology in drylands. The international solidarity association CARI coordinates the Avaclim project while Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG) is in charge of its implementation in South Africa.