Youth agricultural project launched in the north
They identified an old dumping site and transformed it into a food garden that will help feed the local community.
The government still has a lot of work to do to make agriculture more attractive to the youth.
This was according to agriculture, environment and rural development MEC Morakane Mosupyoe on Tuesday during her visit to an NPO called Botshabelo Black Farmers Development (BBFD) in Soshanguve Block H.
Mosupyoe said BBFD decided to commemorate Youth Day in a practical manner, while also going on a drive to advocate for backyard gardens to curb the threat of food insecurity amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
A group of teenagers, who calls themselves Help a Friend Out organisation, also attended. Aubrey Nkuna, Amogelang Modiba and Oreneile Matjene identified an old dumping site and transformed it into a food garden that will help feed the local community.
The MEC said the founders of the programme will be taken for further training.
READ MORE: North organisation teaches learners food gardening
So far I am impressed with what I have seen here; I am happy they already have infrastructure to use, which is a government infrastructure, but we still have to make a couple of improvements.
In addition to what the department has already been doing with backyard gardens for food security purposes, we will also be training these young men through our programmes, said Mosupyoe.Matjene said they were happy with the support they were receiving from BBFD and the office of the agriculture MEC.
Our aim is to turn more illegal dumping sites into food gardening, at least for for this year alone.
We need food gardening for a period like this, it will help with food security and fight poverty, said Matjene.
BBFD chairperson Mogau Megwai said that with the Gauteng economic development agriculture and rural Development department, they provided seeds and seedlings of a variety of vegetables such as cabbage, spinach, onion and beetroot to kick-start this project.
We would like to thank all volunteers who invested their energy and time in the Youth Day activity amid the cold weather and Covid-19.
Megwai added that poor and vulnerable families in Tshwane interested in building backyard gardens were welcome to contact the BBFD.Resident Gumani Khosa said they would use the seedlings to produce food because ?agriculture is the way to go during these tough economic times.
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