Khabazela Village resident starts garden project

AN ambitious project by Dumile Magaqa to reduce food insecurity is slowly taking root in Khabazela Village near Avoca Hills.

Magaqa, a community leader in the area, has started the Khabazela Village Gardens Project to help residents grow their own food in their own gardens.

They’ve been supported by local NPO, The Seed Fund, who recently donated several seedlings for the area’s vegetable garden and soup kitchen.

“A few years ago, with help from NPO’s Singakwazi Aid, The Seed Fund and Mission Thando, we were able to cultivate our very own vegetable garden to support the Khabazela Village soup kitchen. It was a way for us to become self-sustainable and it has been an incredible success. We use a small plot of land next to a shipping container, which is our soup kitchen, and it yielded positive results. Initially the priority was the young children who we began feeding on a daily basis.

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“However, the unemployment rate and the pandemic has meant that we are now supporting more than150 people, which includes men, women and children. When Arianne Hayes-Hill from The Seed Fund donated a number of seedlings to us we decided to start the Khabazela Village Gardens Project. With this initiative we aim to encourage residents and beneficiaries of the soup kitchen to begin planting in their own gardens,” he said.

Magaqa said while the idea of growing your own food can seem intimidating, you don’t need a lot of space to do so.

“While the homes don’t have very big gardens I feel we can make use of what space we have. Some of the seedlings that were donated were spinach, carrots, cabbage and onions and now we aim to empower the community by getting them to plant in their own gardens. The cost of living is getting higher and we felt this was one way to tackle food insecurity.

“I’ve been fortunate to learn from those who support the soup kitchen on how to grow certain vegetables and the best way to take care of them. We find that spinach is one of the faster growing vegetables. While cabbages and carrots take more time, with a little bit of help and advice we feel this project can grow. We hope through the gardens project that we will be able to lessen the impact on our soup kitchen,” he said.