Shoprite launches food garden competition to grow community gardens
Five winning gardens will share R1 million in tailored support, including training, garden resources and infrastructure to help them grow and increase their harvests for the community.
The Shoprite Act For Change Food Garden Competition is giving community food gardens another opportunity to expand their impact, with entries for the 2026 competition opening on October 20.
The competition looks beyond how much food a garden produces. It also considers its broader social impact, the skills it shares, how it operates, its contribution to food security and the positive difference it makes to the people it serves.
“Our purpose is to uplift lives every day by pioneering access to the most affordable goods and services and creating economic opportunity. Community food gardens bring that purpose to life in a very practical way. They put fresh food within reach, create opportunities for people to learn and earn, and bring communities together,” said Sanjeev Raghubir, chief sustainability officer at the Shoprite Group.
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Five winning gardens will share R1m in tailored support, determined through a needs assessment. This will include training, garden resources and infrastructure to help them grow and increase their harvests for the community.
For P Agricultural Group in Soweto, the competition has helped challenge perceptions of what agriculture can offer. The project manager, whose organisation placed third, said: “People who once saw farming as something that belonged in rural areas are starting to see agriculture as an opportunity for themselves – something they can learn from, earn from and be part of.”
ACFS Khunadi Food Garden in Mogoto Village, Limpopo, which took first place, said the shade-net structure it received had helped improve its infrastructure and food production. The organisation also encouraged more gardens to enter the competition.
For the 2026 competition, Shoprite hopes to attract even more gardens already doing valuable work in their communities and seeking support to develop further. The initiative forms part of the retailer’s broader work with community food gardens.
“Through this competition, we want to recognise gardens already doing that work and give them support to grow,” said Raghubir.
To enter, applicants must be aged 18 or older and represent a community-based food garden. Entries can be submitted online at actforchangefoodgardencompetition.datafree.co. Applicants must provide a short description of their garden’s history, purpose and role in the community, as well as photographs of the garden.
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Private home gardens, private companies and close corporations are not eligible.
Entries close on November 15, 2026, and the winners will be announced before April 2027.
