Sokhulumi - A cooperative food garden in the former Kwandebele homeland will soon be supplying its fresh produce to Massmart, which is owned by US retail giant Walmart.
Gauteng MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza officially launched the Akwande food garden project, in Sokhulumi village, outside Bronkhorstspruit, on Friday.
“… I’m very excited with the progress of this cooperative, which is also serving the community as a job and food security project.
“I can proudly tell you that Akwande food garden project now has a market. They will be selling their fresh produce to Massmart and …, they are going to be one of the biggest producers of tomatoes in Gauteng if not in the country.
“As government, we are happy to see our people working together to fight poverty, unemployment and hunger through agricultural cooperatives,” she told SAnews.
Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti said: “I’m really happy with the great job being done at this project. This is a typical Masibambisane project because government and the private sector are providing support, while the people are in charge of their own cooperative.
“With government supporting their cooperative, this project will never become a white elephant. What is happening here is just brilliant”.
Akwande Project Manager Peter Sekwele could not hold back his excitement, following the visit to the cooperative by Nkwinti and Mayathula-Khoza.
“I never thought the leadership was aware of what we are doing here at our remote area. Their visit today will encourage my colleagues and I to continue working very hard to produce more food, not only for our community, but for the country as a whole,” he said.
Job creation and food security
Sekwele said since they started the food garden in 2010, residents are no longer traveling to well-known retail stores in Bronkhorstspruit to buy tomatoes and other vegetables.
“I can proudly say that we are feeding our community with our fresh produce and we’ve already created permanent jobs for 20 locals, of them 16 are women. At the project, we grow tomatoes, cabbage and beetroot just to mention a few in our four hectares of land,” he said.
Sekwele said although they were already selling their fresh produce to Pick ‘n Pay, Spar and Shoprite, they were excited by government’s efforts to help them access a new market.
At the project they use hydroponics, which is a nutrient solution rather than soil, to grow tomatoes. Growing tomatoes hydroponically allows Sekwele to grow them in a controlled environment without weeds, insects or soil-borne diseases. A hydroponic system, which recycles water and nutrients, also optimises space. Hydroponic tomato plants grow faster than soil-grown plants, and their yield is greater.
Also at the project there are playing equipment for kids such as swings, slides, bridges. Sekwele said: “We strategically get the equipment so that when the mothers are busy working at the project, their kids can play,” he said, adding that it was working well.
Comprehensive Rural Development Project
Last year, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson signed an agreement with a non-governmental organisation, TechnoServe SA, and retailer Massmart, aimed at creating jobs and providing support for smallholder farmers, particularly women farmers, in poor communities.
The tomato farming project is part of the Comprehensive Rural Development Project (CRDP) initiatives implemented as part of fighting food insecurity and improving the livelihoods of people living in rural areas.
The project achieved second position in the category of farming projects run by cooperatives within the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Approximately 10 community development initiatives have been initiated at the Sokhulumi CRDP site to date. - SAnews.gov.za
