Malale - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana says the fight against food insecurity in the country should start at a family level with a vegetable garden.
Minister Zokwana was speaking at the commemoration of World Food Day at the remote village of Malale outside Musina, in Limpopo on Thursday. Minister Zokwana and his Deputy General Bheki Cele distributed food donation packs to destitute households.
“Our visit to this village made us see that there are still families that cannot survive without government intervention. We hope to change all these remote villages into household gardens.
“The gesture we are making as government is that there is no reason that we cannot have big yards without any crop. We are saying to our people the time is now to start family farming through the establishment of gardens,” he said.
The department has adopted October as “Food Security Month”, where they will embark on a massive awareness campaign about food production.
During Food Security Month South Africans will be mobilised to take action against food insecurity and to help one another with donations of food and planting of food gardens.
Few weeks ago, the department unveiled a massive food security drive which was also used as a platform to urge South Africans to make food donations which will be packed to build a food mountain distributed to the poor Malale.
According to Minister Zokwana, the food mountain is a clear indication that government cares about its people especially the poor.
“As government we don’t think about going to people during elections, it is about us caring and living with those families who have nothing.
“We are also using this day to promote those who are already running agricultural projects,” he said, adding that South Africans should share food amongst themselves.
“If you have food check if your neighbour has eaten and if they have no food extend your hand so that no one in this country will go to bed with an empty stomach, in that way we can proudly say we are a caring nation,” he said.
Deputy Minister Cele said: “As government, we are not only promoting subsistence farming, we are also promoting the creation of household gardens. We understand that even the food mountain looks enough, but the reality is that it can’t be permanent.
“There are 13 million people in South Africa who don’t have food, but this food insecurity challenge could only be answered by the availability of land, where people can plant crops".
Limpopo MEC for Agriculture, Joy Matshoge, said: “As a provincial government, we are also encouraging family farming because that’s the only way we believe we can eradicate hunger. We are a caring government and while we will never fold our hands while our people are faced with poverty and hunger, we are appealing to you to start your own household gardens”.
In an exclusive interview with SAnews, one of the food parcels beneficiaries, Evelyn Mudau, 45, who lives with her unemployed husband and their six children said: “This is a huge relief for me and my family. It was tough for me and my husband to feed our kids as we are unemployed.
“The food parcels will help us not to go to bed stressed, worrying about what to eat in the morning. I have never received any food donations like this in my life time.”
Her husband Avhurengwi Tshidevhele said: “The food parcels have restored my dignity for the next few months. I will no longer rely on my children’s grants as the only source of survival.”
Thabelo Khosa, 18, who lives with his 16-year old younger sister in a RDP house was so emotional after receiving the food parcels. “With Christmas around the corner, we are so excited about these food parcels,” he said.
Senior citizen Martha Ndou, who is using her pension grant to maintain her six orphan grandchildren, also received food parcels. “Since their parents died, it has been very difficult for me to ensure that there is always food on the table,” she said, adding that she would be grateful if government could help her to get welfare grants for her grandchildren.
Sibusiso Leope, commonly-known as DJ Sbu said: “I am here to encourage people to know more and get involved in farming, more especially young people who still view agriculture as not a glamorous sector.
“However, the reality is that through agriculture, you can create jobs and feed families, your respective communities as well as make a lot of money. I’m also a farmer; I have two farms, one in Brits and the other in KwaZulu-Natal.” - SAnews.gov.za
