Grade 9 learners at the Soshanguve Specialised School of Engineering have launched two new horticultural tunnels and a borehole.

The initiative, in collaboration with the Shoprite Foundation, saw about 40 Grade 9 learners upskilled to use the tunnels for agricultural training covering soil science, crop rotation, compost production, irrigation, and pest and weed control.

The horticultural tunnels and borehole expansion follow the foundation’s first project at Oosrand Commerce and Entrepreneurship School of Specialisation, where about 5 000 units of produce have been harvested over the past two years for the school’s feeding scheme and sale to the surrounding community.

More than 1 700 learners have received agricultural training through the initiative.

“At Soshanguve Engineering, we want to give more young people the chance to experience agriculture for themselves. What is particularly encouraging is that learners will not only leave the school with theoretical agricultural training, but also practical skills that will allow them to plant for sustenance,” said Maude Modise, director of the Shoprite Foundation.

Accredited qualifications

MarketPlace Academy, the foundation’s implementation partner, also trains educators as facilitators and supports the addition of an accredited plant production part-qualification to the CAPS curriculum.

Chantyl Mulder, CEO of MarketPlace Academy, said: “Learners already study agriculture at school, but an accredited plant production part-qualification also requires practical work. The tunnels give them a place to do that work. That means they can leave school with matric and a recognised qualification that gives them a first step into the industry.”

This way of learning is already familiar at Soshanguve; learners previously designed and built Modjadji, a solar-powered train that won the Engineering category at the Gauteng Schools of Specialisation Festival. The tunnels offer another setting for this learn-by-doing approach.

Boosting food security

The school’s principal, Mashiane Tladi, said schools can also help young people see how agriculture can contribute to food security and further use produce from the tunnels to supplement its feeding scheme, helping to reduce food spending costs.

“The aim is for them to see agriculture not only as something they study, but as knowledge they can use at home, in further study or even to earn an income. Any surplus can be sold to the community, with the income invested back into the school,” said Tladi.

The Grade 9 learners are taking over from a pilot group that began working on the project last year.

Zanga Mphaphuli (16), a Grade 11 learner who was part of that first group, said the programme had taught her a lot. “I have learnt that growing food involves much more than just planting seeds and watering them. Things like temperature, soil quality, sunlight, pests and water management all make a difference,” Mphaphuli said.

The school will manage the tunnels on a day-to-day basis, bringing the infrastructure the retailer provided to life.

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