Khula Zonke plant spring vegetables

Spring has sprung, and this highly anticipated season for farmers means it’s time to prepare fields and plant some seeds.

In celebration of Arbor Week, the Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA) organisation gathered at the Khula Zonke Agricultural Co-operative with 60 volunteers from different departments to plant different kinds of seedlings and fruit trees, donate herbs and install irrigation systems.

Arbor Week is held annually in South Africa from September 1–7, and it is aimed at promoting tree planting, encouraging citizens to nurture the environment, conserve resources, and foster a greener future for generations.

According to Zodwa Sihlangu, who is one of the founders of Khula Zonke, they have been working with FTFA for the past few months, and they have invested in developing their agricultural project, which has enabled them to continue to produce fresh and organic vegetables.

“Khula Zonke was established in 2003, we are a small farming community and we sell vegetables to our local community and our local stores. One hundred fruit trees and seeds for spinach, lettuce, onions and beetroot were donated to us, and we are very grateful for this opportunity.

“Trees are not for now but are for the future, and this means in the coming years we will be producing not only vegetables but fruits as well,” says Zodwa.

Head of programmes at FTFA Robin Hills says this event aimed to also ensure that communities are aware of how the food system works and will be able to run their small farming business.

“We have also planted a lot of yellow woods today and it our mandate as FTFA to develop these small farming communities, creating food security and greening in urban and rural areas,” says Robin.