If you are unemployed, there is always a way of supporting your family and this is the positive message being spread by members of the Reutlwile Agricultural Project through their poverty alleviation project.
This initiative which is a community garden, was started earlier this year in Molapo by five unemployed residents after receiving training from the Department of Agriculture.
And so far, the garden has been doing well.
According to Collin Phungula who is part of the team, Reutlwile Junior Secondary School gave them permission to work in the school after their training and from there they started working on their 61 vegetable and herb beds.
Phungula said: “We began with preserving dirt and leaves which we turn into manure when preparing the beds as we don’t use chemicals.
“We then started planting our winter crop which include cabbages, carrots, beetroot, spinach, cucumber, lettuce and herbs.
“From each bed we are able to calculate how much we can make if the vegetable survive and we check the market price so we can have motivation to plan ahead and set goals for our garden.”
He said in the future if they can provide hawkers in their area with vegetables and herbs, they would be happy as these people can save time and money because they will be spending less on transport.
The team has also come up with ways of recycling their own seeds and they are now able to sell their products to the community.
And since they have no irrigation system, they are using buckets to store rain water which they use for the plants that need more water to survive.
Phungula thanked the residents that live near the school who help in looking after their garden and for their positive response and support of their garden.
Albert Pako who also farms at this garden said the challenges they face in this garden are the insects that eat their plants in summer.
They also have to use water from his garden as the school only provides them with land to plant on and they have a shortage of tools.
He said: “We are currently working on organising an irrigation system and fundraising for more tools.
“Our aim is for this project to become a business, which is why we are pleased that we have been able to provide the school with our produce to help their feeding scheme.
“We are further using different methods of planting to see which one produces the best plants then we will stick to it.”
One of the residents in the area, Patricia Modise said: “This project helps in feeding us as we don’t have to go to the market anymore.
“And these people work hard, and it is nice because when you buy from them you can see that their products are fresh and straight from the garden.
“Even the place is cleaner and we don’t have a problem of rats anymore.”
