The Rutegang Primary School Food Garden Project has put Soweto on the map as they won the title of national young farmer of the year.
The Department of Economic Development, Agriculture and Forestry hosted their annual awards for top achievers in farming and SMME development.
The Rutegang project from White City was one of the few projects in Gauteng to make the final stages of the prestigious event for local farmers.
Their reward for the good work they put in was certification of recognition, a trophy and a cheque worth R33 000.
On the day Urban News visited their farm, a representative from the National Development Agency was present to do an oversight of the project and to find out how they can be assisted and these are some the issues they cited;
“Our biggest problem now are birds that eat our crop.
“We would like to erect net structures so that we can protect our crops from frost and birds.
“The money we have now will contribute towards erecting those structures and the NDA can help towards that, so we still have to register under them in order for us to be considered,” said Themba Bhaladzi, the founder of the project.
“I’ve been in this project for some months now and these awards prove to me that hard work really does pay off,” said Nkwane Masotho.
