Urban agriculture pilot project hints at potential

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report.

Sashnee Moodley:
The vegetable garden on the roof of the Kotze street shelter, in Braamfontein, is part of a pilot project series of urban gardens to improve food security for the more vulnerable people in the city. Schalk Burger has the story.

Schalk Burger:
The Kotze street rooftop garden, next to the Constitution Hill, is an initiative that aims to leverage micro-scale farming cooperatives in the city to produce food for the inner city.

The garden is a hydroponic system and produces vegetables in trays, but limited to vegetables that “grow up”, like spinach, rape, cabbage, morogo, basil, dill, cauliflower, broccoli and lettuce, according to the project leader Cathrine Khambule.

The technology and the cooperative model are being evaluated as part of the pilot project, which the City of Johannesburg is using to refine its future plans.

The City’s Food Resilience Unit said that the City would open two more hydroponic rooftop vegetable gardens during this year. They will be built on the roofs of inner city buildings renovated by the Johannesburg Social Housing Company for low-cost housing.

While the hydroponic technology requires that participants can read and write in English to access the training and support materials, the vegetables grow faster than in soil. For example, four to nine kg of spinach can be harvested per square meter every few weeks. The garden provides a local restaurant with 40 kg of spinach a week, and the surplus is sold to locals. The garden also donates the produce it cannot sell to the shelter.

The garden consists of 26 growing tunnels and two incubation tunnels. The project recycles more than 90% of the water and only adds calcium some amino acid nutrients to the water.

Some of the challenges are that destitute people have become used to receiving food parcels, and are often not interested in growing the food themselves. However, the project does provide each participant with training and a way to generate some income for families.

Kotze street project leader Cathrine Khambule explains the benefits of these small urban food gardens.

Kotze street project leader Cathrine Khambule:
 

Schalk Burger:
Engineering News then asked her about the feedback and support it receives from mothers in the area, and she emphasised the role that women can play in these initiatives and the benefits the mothers gain from their involvement.

Kotze street project leader Cathrine Khambule:

Sashnee Moodley:

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MTN interim chairperson Phuthuma Nhleko
 

Sashnee Moodley:
That’s Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa’s real economy.