Food gardens connect: Bridging the gap betwen poverty and economic opportunities

Additionally, more than 55% of our population live below the Upper Bound Poverty Line of R1,634 per month, while the cost of a basic food basket for a family of four costs R5,420. The affordability gap is huge, leaving most of our population struggling with unending hardship, as they try to put food on the table. These disturbing statistics underscore the persistent challenges of structural unemployment and generational poverty and inequality faced by mostly black South Africans daily.

Our economy has been performing dismally in recent years, achieving GDP growth of less than 1%, while the South African Reserve Bank estimates that our economy needs to grow between 5% - 6% consistently over several years if we are to make a significant dent in the unemployment rate.

While we can all agree that structural reforms, led by government, are urgently needed to promote growth and development, these reforms, if successful, will take years before we see a tangible impact in terms of economic growth, more jobs, and improved wages.

Given the vast challenges we face as a nation, we need to think differently about how we view jobs, income, and employment, in such a way that meaningfully bridges the gap between poverty and economic freedom.

One solution that is showing remarkable results is FoodForward SA’s Food Gardens Connect programme. Food Gardens Connect is about growing people and growing food and aims to strategically address the multi-dimensional challenges of poverty, gross inequality, high unemployment, growing food insecurity and malnutrition.

Food Gardens Connect implements a very unique approach to teaching people skills that allow them to become self-sufficient and earn a regular income. Our belief is that there is a huge amount of agency in under-served communities, with people who have endured hardship, and have become very creative and innovative to survive and thrive. There are also vast parcels of unused land in communities, which can be converted into high-yielding community gardens, where people can grow their own food for consumption and resale, while also beautifying the area.

Recognising these incredible resources within under-served communities, the Food Gardens Connect programme offers to provide training, ongoing mentorship and other resources to people who want to work, are willing to learn, and want to improve their circumstances for the better. In this way communities are strengthened and become more resilient.

The first step is selecting the right communities to work with, and the right people that will drive the process locally. Fortunately, FoodForward SA has a network of more than 2,500 beneficiary organisations (BOs) to choose from, that already receive food each month, as part of our surplus food redistribution programme.

We identify BOs that have large parcels of land, and engage with their leadership, to see if there is any interest in partnering with us. The BO leadership then identifies 5 unemployed people that regularly visit their organisation or community kitchen for food and / or services.

We provide all the inputs, which includes a 6-week training course, a starter pack of equipment and seedlings, and we provide the gardeners with food parcels for three months, while they get their gardens off the ground.

The training includes planning a garden; companion planting / seasonal planting; crop rotation; mulching / bed preparation; planting and labelling seeds; pest control; compost making etc. Participants that complete the course get a certificate.

What makes Food Gardens Connect unique is the following:

1. The training is free for communities that meet our criteria for inclusion
2. Since we have own nursery tunnel at our facility, we grow our own seedlings, and donate them to all our garden projects for free
3. We offer a guaranteed buy-back on all the produce grown. Gardeners are therefore incentivised to look after the seedlings until they are ready for harvest

Food Gardens Connect is currently implemented in nine communities across Cape Town, involving nearly 50 previously unemployed people, who now earn a regular income from their gardens. Here are some of their stories:

Nosakhile Phiti is a 52-year old grandmother who receives a social grant. She lives in a small shack in Khayelitsha, with 9 other people in the home. Two of her family members get temporary jobs from time to time, but they struggle to get by. “This garden is helping me a lot, and brings me hope and peace,” says Mama Nosakhile. “Before joining the garden, there was always fighting in the house because the food gets finished too quickly. Now we can cope much better.”

Bonga Mbizo is 33 years old. He lives in an informal settlement in Crossroads. “Life has not been easy, but me and my family are trying to survive,” says Bonga. Their only income in the home is from two child support grants. “When they invited me to join the garden programme I said yes straight away because I want to do something. I bring home vegetables from the garden to add to our meals.”

Zukisani Ncuwe is 20 years old and lives in Crossroads with her sister and the sister’s boyfriend. Only the boyfriend works and brings in some money. “The money is not enough, and the food is not enough. I thought about joining a gang just to get money in my pocket, but the garden kept me out of the streets. This garden is not just about food. It’s about dignity and staying off the streets,” she says.

These powerful stories of hope and transformation are changing the landscape in under-served communities in more ways than one. Food Gardens Connect is a compelling solution to help people out of poverty and desperation, into a life of independence, growing, and dignity.

To learn more about Food Gardens Connect and our other food security strategies across South Africa, please visit foodforwardsa.org