Bronkhorstspruit co-operate diversifies food garden with Shoprite’s support
They were reliant on municipal water, hand watering the crops with watering cans and a tiny hosepipe, but now with the new irrigation system it has become much easier to water the vegetable garden which is around 2.5 hectares in size.
Shoprite has recently joined forces with Bronkhorstspruit locals by helping them get the necessary water infrastructure in place at the Mmakgomo Agricultural Co-operative.
The farming project began many years ago by Zanele Mahlangu’s mother, Elizabeth and other community members.
This includes a reservoir and an irrigation system which will allow them to branch out the kind of vegetables they are currently growing.
“We were growing sweet potatoes, green peppers and cabbage. But now with Shoprite’s help we have expanded to also grow spinach, kale, brinjals, beetroot, tomatoes and pumpkins,” explained Mahlangu.
They were reliant on municipal water, hand watering the crops with watering cans and a tiny hosepipe, but now with the new irrigation system it has become much easier to water the vegetable garden which is around 2.5 hectares in size.
60 hectares of the 120 hectares of land are used for maize and the rest for livestock.
“Community food gardens play an important role in food security. Our priority is to ensure sustainability, therefore our support extends beyond meeting the immediate food security needs of communities.
“We help community members to sustain themselves and their families by creating independence through transferring skills,” said Sanjeev Raghubir, sustainability manager at the Shoprite Group.
Over the next 18 months, members of the Mmakgomo Agricultural Co-operative will also receive hands-on permaculture training which includes soil preparation, compost and mulch making, seed saving ways and more.
Currently the Shoprite Group supports more than 175 community food gardens and 3 400 home gardens which feeds around 53 000 people.
More than 2 700 members of the community have also received training in sustainable food gardening in the last year, helping them to produce nutritious and organic food.
“Shoprite has done quite a lot for us to further our garden and I want to thank them for making a big difference to us,” said Mahlangu.
