Cape during monitoring of food gardens and handing over of suitcases,
Khayelitsha
2 April 2009
Agriculture is the sector that touches our lives on a daily basis, because
there is not one person who are present here today that can say that he or she
does not need the products of agriculture in their daily living. (Bread, meat,
milk sugar, clothes, animals, etc) agriculture also provides direct jobs to
more than 200 000 farm workers and their families in the Western Cape.
In the Western Cape, agriculture is one of the cornerstones in our fight
against poverty and the social well being of our people. Agriculture is the
core department that needs to assist our people when it comes to food
security.
In this regard we have put various programs in place to empower our people
as we are addressing the problems associated with increasing levels of poverty,
global inequality, peace, land distribution, security and stability, financing
for rural development, health, and capacity building. We took note of this and
worked hard to integrate the three pillars of sustainable development namely
economic, social and environmental.
In the Western Cape Department of Agriculture we are very clear that it is
part of our role to see to the sustainable development of everybody, including
the youth and women in agriculture, as agriculture is the main engine of
economic growth in most communities.
In order to obtain these goals we want you, the people to become full
partners through programmes that will empower all our people, even girls and
boys at an early age, to look at agriculture as the very essence of our
subsistence and to have a full knowledge of the importance of the protection of
our resources through land care, environmental protection programmes and best
practises in agriculture.
We believe that we have to create opportunities for our children and the
people that work in Agriculture. We must have well trained staff to take care
of your needs when you approach the department for help.
The Department has since 2004:
* provided a work experience to more than 300 interns
* more than 100 bursaries to employees in various areas ranging from
undergraduate degrees and diplomas to PhDs
* 17 employees received Learnership training
* 30 employees received Adult Based Education Training (ABET) training more
than * 40 employees were assisted to complete grade 10 and 12
* 21 bursaries have been awarded to external bursars in engineering, veterinary
science, agricultural economics and biodiversity.
This government is well aware of the fact that food security is one of the
most pressing issues on the agriculture agenda, as it is not only of utmost
importance for Agriculture to provide food for the nation, but it plays a vital
role in our fight against poverty and to make sure that you will have food on
your table.
For the year 2008/09, the department supported 36 projects in Khayelitsha,
mainly vegetable gardens on public land. The projects benefited a total of 345
persons, including 236 women, 35 youth and 12 disabled persons. The total
investment amounts to R900 000,00
Delivery of the suitcase
We have launched a campaign called Ilema/Letsema as a national effort to
ensure that no land lies fallow and that communities and all role players
leverage land as a resource to fight poverty and hunger, increase food security
and to contribute towards government objective of a better life for all.
This campaign seeks to encourage communities and all stakeholders to unleash
a green revolution on the arable fallow land by tilling it to feed themselves
and the nation.
In view of the soaring food prices, the provincial government of the Western
Cape convened a food summit on 18 June 2008 which brought together government
departments, labour, business and civil society organisations in order to find
solutions to challenges of food insecurity faced by the people of the Western
Cape.
In order to address this, it was decided that:
* the Department of Agriculture should promote the concept of backyard gardens,
particularly for the food insecure households
* that agriculture should develop a strategy to rehabilitate existing gardens
with a view to increase production
* to review the availability and release of unused land publicly owned
(especially schools and hospital land), to be used productively for food
availability.
* to ensure arable land is released for the establishment of food gardens.
In response to the summit resolutions, the Department of Agriculture devised
a strategy, namely the household food production suitcase, to be able to
address the issue of food insecurity at the household level. The household food
production suitcase would enable our department to respond to the challenges
facing households that has no access to land for food production.
The suitcase consist of a family irrigation system, garden tools (spade,
fork, rake, domestic hose, watering can), seeds and seedlings, fertilisers and
a wheelbarrow.( You will be able to see what the suitcase look like at the
exhibition of the department here today. The value of the suitcase is R5
000,00
During January, I announced that we would deliver 100 household food
production packs (suitcases) to vulnerable families in your area. This means
that we will be spending R500 000,00 in your area alone. Today we are handing
over another 10 suitcases to families in your area.
The departmentâs personnel will continuously monitor performance of gardens
and provide extension support. In addition, the district food security task
team will ensure linkage of projects with local business for the marketing
surplus produce, thus securing long-term viability of the projects. We have
been involved in the Phillipi Market where we will also work with you to
deliver your products to the market, especially for those people that are
involved in bigger gardens and who are producing enough to sell to the
market.
Siyazama community garden project is such a food security project, situated
here in Makaza, Khayelitsha. The project was established in 2003, by a group of
eight women, mainly to address their challenge of unemployment and poverty in
their neighbourhood. As a group you are farming on 0,8 ha piece of land leased
to you by the City of Cape Town. I know you produce vegetables for your own
consumption and surplus production is sold to the local market.
The Department of Agriculture supported your project during 2007/08
financial year, with irrigation infrastructure, production inputs
(seeds/seedlings and compost). In addition you were provided with training on
vegetable production at Elsenburg, and regular extension support is delivered
to you on an ongoing basis.
Enquiries:
Alie van Jaarsveld
Cell: 079 467 1953
Issued by: Department of Agriculture, Western Cape Provincial
Government
2 April 2009
