Former West Rand District Municipality (WRDM) Mayor Mpho Nawa has taken the concept of food security seriously and started his own vegetable garden.
This is with the aim of having fresh produce at the tip of his fingers and ensuring a healthy lifestyle, while also ensuring food security in his own home.
This not only benefits him and his immediate and extended family, but also benefits his neighbours who sometimes get to have some of Nawa’s fresh produce.
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Intrigued by his garden on the outside, the Herald decided to have a one-on-one interview with the former mayor at his Helikon Park home, to explore what sparked his interests for gardening.
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Stepping into his yard, the concept of greenery comes to life, as he has numerous vegetables planted there including cabbage, spinach, tomato, peppers, lettuce, pumpkin, butternut and chili among others.
Speaking to the Herald, Nawa said he has always had a love for gardening since childhood and started actively gardening in his own yard about 16 years ago.
“From childhood my father used to put us into gardening and say we should do gardening. He was a gardener. In school I also had agricultural studies that I took, and I grew up with some appreciation for gardening, but it was not as detailed as it is today. That’s how it all started, and I have enjoyed it ever since,” said Nawa who added that he later on participated in the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals as his love for gardening grew over the years.
He also advised people to take up vegetable gardening for their own consumption or for selling purposes.
“A lot of poor people in the world are faced with hunger and I thought maybe we could develop such gardens not only for ourselves, but to indicate that land can be transformed to the benefit of us all. We also need to send a message that planting is also about societal development and show people that we can work together in changing our own backyards and have food security in the form of fruits and vegetables.
“That’s why I thought planting outside is more educational and sends a message of let’s all transform our back yards,” said Nawa, who added that he also makes his own compost from cut offs that people leave on their pavements after doing their garden.
Meanwhile, Nawa’s love for gardening is also not on the practical side of things. He has also invested his time in reading a lot of books regarding garden and exploring YouTube.
This is to gain more knowledge on the skill and get ideas from others. While this may be, Nawa also has beautiful trees throughout his garden and has taken the liberty of planting and naming some of his trees after some fallen heroes.
He has a tree named after the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Hugh Masukela and Jonas Gwangwa among others.
In a nutshell, Nawa offers his fresh produce to not only his family members but neighbours, churches and the local informal settlements.
He said he wants to start a gardening project with his immediate neighbourhood to share the skills and have them utilise their yards effectively.
