Vegetable gardens to sustain communities for the future
The Garden of Life is a micro-farming project which teaches people to become self-sustainable through farming.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
This proverb aligns with the vision of Garden of Life as part of Project Phakama in Benoni to support local communities.
Garden of Life is a micro-farming initiative that focuses on teaching people of all ages, genders and cultures the basic skills of becoming self-sustainable through vegetable farming.
Project Phakama Benoni is WBHO’s CSI initiative that is led by project manager Wiseman Mkhonto. The project is a mechanism to eradicate poverty and hunger in South Africa through micro-agriculture.
Some members of the project recently donated spinach to the elderly community members in Chief Albert Luthuli.
The projects facilitator Keith Fransch said the project aims to create communities that are self-sustainable through micro-farming.
“Due to the high unemployment rate in the country this is a way of eradicating poverty one community at a time,” said Fransch.
“Garden of Life kicked into life after they were approached by Nuvironment Training Company to teach skills of planting vegetable crops on a small scale in areas which would be deemed as unsatisfactory for crop development.
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“Through the utilisation of a very basic hydroponic type technique, micro farmers can be self-sufficient and plant sustainable crops.”
The project sees five young people on site in Cloverdene who are being educated on how to run a business and how to market such a business.
A garden has been established at the Thembalethu Day Care Centre in Chief Albert Luthuli through the project.
The principal, Wonder Ndubane, said through the garden they are able to teach the learners basic farming skills and they get to cook vegetables for them for lunch.
Fransch said the garden has allowed them to create awareness within the children about the need for farming as a sustainable source of food.
They also offer training to members of the community every Friday from 09:00 to 12:00.
For more information, contact Fransch on 084 467 9120.
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