GEORGE NEWS - George Municipality has started a pilot project with the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDOA) to convert all illegal dumping sites in George into vegetable gardens.
This is in an effort to address hunger in George where data shows that 30% of residents in the municipal area suffers from hunger - despite there being 117 nutritional centres in George and six in Uniondale.
The pilot project is aimed at bridging this gap, said George Mayor Jackie von Brandis at a celebration of World Food Day (WFD) in Uniondale on Friday 11 October.
The Uniondale community gathered at their sports field to mark WFD. This year's theme was 'Right to food for a better life and a better future' and it focused on reminding people of the need to ensure food security and access to nutritious food.
Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Mayor Andrew Stroebel said the GRDM is committed to creating a model of resilience where all residents have access to healthy food.
One of the most promising initiatives is establishing a honeybush tea processing plant, which will stimulate job creation and give smallholder farmers greater access to the honeybush value chain.
Stroebel said agriculture could be the cornerstone of sustainable development in the Garden Route.
The donated food mountain.
Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism Dr Ivan Meyer said the country's farmers produce enough food for the South African population, but hunger is still an issue for many.
He stressed that a thriving economy is needed to create jobs that will help lift people out of poverty. The aim is a 5% annual growth rate for the Western Cape.
The department and its partners have started 100 household agricultural food production initiatives in Haarlem (34) and Uniondale (64), and established two subsistence projects at Mina Moo Kleuterskool and Chris Nissan Crèche in Uniondale, as well as two school food garden projects at Haarlem Senior Secondary School and Avontuur Primary.
A further 78 household agricultural food security initiatives will be established in the coming days, said Meyer.
Inputs into household gardens
Beneficiaries of household gardens received production inputs, garden tools, water tanks, and training in vegetable production.
Haarlem Secondary School Project and Avontuur Primary School Food Gardens were supported with fencing, garden tools, irrigation systems, production inputs and vermicompost/earth compost to enable sustainable vegetable production.
Chris Nissan Crèche and Mina Moo Crèche were assisted with production inputs, planter boxes, garden tools, watering cans, a water harvesting system and seedlings.
The WFD event also included a food mountain and the school poster competition.
With sponsors' support and the staff members' generosity, food collected for the food mountain was donated to five local NGOs: Haarlem Speelskool (Haarlem), Uniep (Uniondale), Filadelfia United Revival Mission (Uniondale), Avontuur Speelskool (Avontuur) and Addict Lives Matter (Uniondale).
Two local schools, Dirk Bischoff Primary and Avontuur Primary, enthusiastically responded to the annual poster competition, which emphasised and created awareness of the challenges of food insecurity in our communities.
The Uniondale WFD was hosted in partnership with the WCDOA, Garden Route District Municipality, George Municipality and Casidra.
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