Agricultural works of Miriam Makeba Centre for Girls to be started

Miriam Makeba Centre for Girls will partner with Meals on Wheels to establish a food garden expected to commence in October and other developments are earmarked for next year.

The executive director of Afrika Leadership Development Institute also known as LeadAfrika, Tshiamo Dichabe said they had partnered with the centre to provide strategic advisory support.

He added the centre needed to install water tanks and solar panels for the supply of electricity. “We are planning a Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Seminar to be hosted at the centre on August 31 as a way to create a platform to ensure food security for our Meals on Wheels beneficiaries,” said Dichabe.

He said the agricultural component included the erection of shading net, land cultivation, fertilisers and pest control chemicals at an estimated cost of R276 000.

“A site visit was conducted in September 2021 and again in January 2022 where we discovered that [the centre’s] security features needed an upgrade, as it is not sufficient for the project to operate successfully without theft.”
Meals on Wheels CFO Effort Bhebhe said it was important to introduce girls to farming.
“One of our objectives is food security and skilled development through poverty alleviation,” said Bhebhe.
Bhebhe added they believed in the empowerment of women and girls and wanted to ensure that Mam Makeba’s agricultural vision was achieved.

Centre chairperson Thato Mokhuthu said, “We still have a long way to go as we want to ensure that we fix the staircase and kitchen as soon as possible as these were some of the flags raised by the Department of Social Development to ensure we comply with the health and safety regulations aligned to running such a centre.”

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