Ekurhuleni opens bids for lease of agricultural farms
The land release programme is set to take off as the City of Ekurhuleni invite proposals from interested organisations to conduct agricultural activities on parcels of council-owned land in different towns.
The programme will see successful bidders being awarded municipal farms by way of lease for nine years and 11 months.
The Member of Mayoral Committee for Finance and Economic Development, Clr Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, said the City has opened the bidding process in an attempt to establish a permanent urban and near the urban agricultural base to ensure a local food source for the local economy.
“We intend to provide opportunities for community economic development by creating jobs and meaningful work for the local community.
“We also want to reduce the volume of agricultural imports by providing locally grown, produced and sold foodstuffs, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to food transportation thus helping to reduce the impacts of climate change,” Xhakaza said.
He explained the City wants to alleviate poverty and hunger in communities by promoting social equity and food security in these communities by providing opportunities for increased accessibility to fresh and healthy produce.
“We are going to partner with organisations to pilot and implement sustainable agricultural practices and programmes on municipal farms.
“We are going to partner with individuals and organisations to develop innovative educational programming that focuses on themes on sustainable urban agriculture including sustainable farming and food security practices.
“We have different categories of farms varying in size from social farms one, which are less than five hectares, social farms two that are more than five hectares but less than 10 hectares, small scale farms 10-30 hectares, developmental commercial farms 30-100 hectares and established commercial farms that are more than 100 hectares.
“We want to urge our farming community to take advantage of this opportunity by visiting our tender office at 68 Woburn Avenue in Benoni or visit our website at www.ekurhuleni.gov.za for more information,” said Xhakaza.
The City of Ekurhuleni will also be hosting stakeholder engagement sessions to educate interested bidders on the City’s Agriculture Development Strategy and provide more information and guidelines on the Supply Chain Management process flow to be used when submitting proposals/bids during phase two of the programme.
The dates and venues of the sessions are:
August 23: Phola Park Hall, Thokoza at 10:00.
August 25: Benoni Council Chamber at 10:00.
Due to Covid-19 protocols, only 50 people will be allowed in the venues. These sessions will also be live streamed on all Ekurhuleni platforms
The closing date for bidding is August 31 at 10:00.
