[imagesource:groundup/tarirowashinyira]

Residents of the infamous N2 Gateway Social Housing corridor have turned vacant land that has been used as dumping sites into thriving vegetable gardens to help locals who are struggling.

Paul Moletsane was the first resident to begin farming on the vacant land in 2019, and soon after he was joined by Thobeka Gacula and Nomsa Gxibha as they turned the abused landscape into food-producing sites for local families.

Today there are eight full-time farmers who work the land, producing everything from spinach, cabbage, kale, potatoes, onions, and turnips, to beetroot, pepper, peas, tomatoes, butternut, carrots, brinjal, and sweet potatoes.

Gacula says she would love to introduce younger people to the garden and teach them to work on the project. She was the first person to be approached by Moletsane, and together they have transformed the dumpsite into a growing symbol of Ubuntu.

Gacula says the garden had been provided with seeds by the church and Shoprite, and the South African Urban Food and Farming Trust was helping with training, more seeds, compost, and vegetable sales.

Nyovane says they are looking for funding for fencing, tools, containers, water tanks and a borehole. At the moment they use water from fire hydrants.

“We just recently planted lemon, naartjie and orange trees, and currently we sell our spinach for R12. When we have work, we get a few guys in the community who are not employed to help us and pay them from the money raised from selling vegetables.”

The farmers also say they are looking for opportunities to sell their veggies at supermarkets, or for schools and old-age homes to buy their organic produce.

Are any retailers or restaurants out there that want to support a good project?

“This place was a dumping area and people still dump empty bottles. During the night the bottles shine so I use them to make vegetable beds and scare dogs away so that they don’t poop in the garden.”

This garden is just one of nearly 30 that grow organic veggies in Langa, and the farmers hope that one day they could be incorporated into an ‘agri-hub’ which would benefit everyone in the area. Lucky for them, the Urban Food and Farming Trust has stepped up to support urban farmers.

 This is the sort of initiative we should all be supporting. You can read more about this project on the Groundup website.

[source:groundup]