This is in pursuit of the city’s 2040 vision after a finding which indicated that many residents spent three to 10 days per month without food.
The vision includes developing financial sustainability, resilience against social challenges, safety, development of small medium and micro enterprises, and the green economy.
The region’s plan on developing resilience has started with a focus on food security through various agricultural initiatives involving community participation and also partnerships with other government departments, non-profit organisations and the private sector.
The partnership started with the launch of 10 food gardens at various sites including at Marlboro Gardens, Eastbank, Innes Park, 18th Avenue, Klipfontein View and Bombani Shelter for Abused Women in Eastbank.
Speaking on behalf of regional director, Liziwe Ntshinga Makoro, Lennette Fouche said the interest in the food gardens had been mainly among women who have been encouraged to organise themselves into co-operatives which the city and government consider favourably when looking for community projects to support. She said as co-operatives, they would be able to access funding, training, mentoring and organisational and management support while developing into viable entities for poverty alleviation.
She added that partners were already on board. They include the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs which recently provided the 10 food garden co-operatives with 220 sets of protective clothing which include overalls, shoes, sun hats and gloves. The Department of Social Development provided them fencing, gates, seeds, tools and some expertise. While Crebis, a private agency, is supporting them with training, seeds and tools and also technical expertise. It is also helping to identify suitable land for agriculture.
Fouche said that the land identification process was ongoing and included converting some of the dumping areas to more productive purposes and in doing so, address the challenge of illegal dumping on those sites. She added that the region, with other members of the partnership, would provide close monitoring and supervision to ensure the success of the food gardens. They would also provide other services such as electricity, improving water reticulation systems, and suitable building and refrigeration systems to retain the freshness of the produce before sale.
