Locals prioritise food security

AS-U-R Community Empowerment and Development Foundation has gone a long way in keeping the area of Eldorado Park clean while at the same time working towards food security and sustainability.

The organisation would like to thank residents for the support they have shown since 2021 when they started this journey.

They would also like to send special words of appreciation to City of Johannesburg, City Parks, Pikitup and Gdaard for the good working relationship which has resulted in the success of the organisation.

This comes after the foundation hosted a successful garden competition event in December last year.

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“City Parks helped us facilitate the December event, Gdaard assisted us with the labour from the Green Army and Pikitup is always on standby to help us whenever we need to eradicate illegal dumping sites,” explained Mirriam Heyes from AS-U-R Community Empowerment and Development Foundation.

While the foundation has made considerable strides in taking care of the environment in the area, Heyes said more work still needs to be done to eliminate illegal dumping sites and creating more community gardens.

The December event was in line with the commemorations of World Soil Day (WSD) and highlighted the interest of the residents in working with the environment as it drew the attention of small farmers from as far as Orange Farm.

Heyes said they have also seen how locals have responded positively when it comes to the call to work with the environment and promote food security.

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“We would also like to invite residents to our garden based at Missouri Secondary School to come and get seeds so they can start their home gardens,” said Heyes.

“This is our way of thanking and encouraging people to start their own gardens so they can fight hunger. I would like to thank Social Development for supporting this initiative by agreeing to supply seeds to the locals who want to start their own backyard gardens.”

As a way of leading by example, the AS-U-R Community Garden at Missouri Secondary School has started producing fresh vegetables which are then sold cheap to residents, especially the elderly. This would have not been possible without the support of corporates such as Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) and FNB who supplied the foundation with tools, seeds, training and even water harvesting equipment.

Iris Taylor from the Green Army also expressed words of appreciation to the stakeholders who have supported the project throughout 2023 in a bid to keep the environment clean and securing food security.

“It is very important for everyone in our community to get involved in such initiatives. It will help teach everyone to have their own gardens at home and help put food on the table since the rate of unemployment is high,” said Taylor.

The to three winners of the garden competition were Boqheku hase monyetla Cooperative from Orange Farm, Lucky Jabulani from Pimville and Ronald September from Klipspruit West.