South Africa's Midlands Region of KwaZulu-Natal is located outside of Pietermaritzburg up to the Drakensberg mountain range. Dotted with small towns, inhabitants of this relatively rural area engage in farming, particularly of sugar and wine grapes, livestock cultivation, forestry, and the tourism industry. The area's natural forests and grasslands host zebras, giraffes, antelope, and other diverse wildlife. Sugar production and other agricultural activities have put particular pressure on water resources, contributing to water supply depletion, sedimentation, groundwater contamination, and biodiversity loss. There is strong potential for improved watershed stewardship among landscape partners. Collaborators including WWF-SA, the Mondi Wetlands Programme, the Noodsberg Canegrowers Association, and other partners formed the Sustainable Sugarcane Farm Management System (SusFarMS) Initiative to address this challenge. By 2018, the project aims to ensure that all sugarcane produced in the Noodsberg area is verified as sustainably produced and sourced, meeting the expectations of end buyers and also protecting the sustainability of sugarcane production and associated landscapes and livelihoods. Through guidelines on best management practices, an extension program to engage farmers, and tools to support tracking progress through self-audits on social, economic, and environmental factors, SusFarMS will work to improve natural resource stewardship in the Midlands Region. SusFarMS partners include the Noodsberg Canegrowers, UCL Company, Eston Mill Group Board, Illovo Sugar, South African Cane Growers' Association, South African Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI), SABMiller, and Solidaridad. Initiative efforts were spurred by farmers and companies in the region interested in improving their natural resources stewardship to create shared value, manage resource and reputational risks, and build resilient, multifunctional landscapes. Workshops were held as early as 2004 to connect stakeholders from government, civil society, and agribusiness. These dialogues led to the establishment of SuSFarMS. Farmers' participation in the program is voluntary. If they elect to take part, they can audit their practices and compare their performance to others around economic, social, and environmental principles.