“We hope to cultivate a love for farming while creating opportunities for self-sustainability.” These are the words of Nomsa Ncube, one of the driving forces behind the Johannesburg-based LeanoAgri Food Garden.
Based in Marlboro, LeanoAgri is a co-operative enterprise in which six passionate youths are creating a livelihood for themselves and their community. It is among the more than 175 community food gardens and 3 400 home gardens supported by leading retailer Shoprite.
“Starting out was extremely hard,” says Ncube.
“We took lessons over weekends and spent our own money on seedlings, hose pipes, and other equipment. The land we were given had been a dumping site, so we started from scratch. But luckily Shoprite came on board at the end of last year, and it has been a breeze ever since. They’ve helped set us up in so many ways.”
The drip irrigation system that the retailer provided has been a massive help, explains Ncube, as they had been watering by hand before. Shoprite also supplied the budding gardeners with equipment and a container to store their tools safely.
The company’s support includes 18 months of hands-on permaculture training, which the co-op members found most beneficial, says Ncube. The knowledge and skills gained are now being shared with the broader community including primary school learners, teenagers and the elderly.
Learning and growing through hard work
While LeanoAgri Food Garden’s business has grown significantly in the past year, Ncube and her partners – Nonhie Manzini, Sibusiso Tongeni, Tebogo Molopa, Wilson Mothiba and Phumudzo Mugeri – are confident that it can develop even further.
They currently grow Swiss chard, mustard spinach, rapeseed, kale and spring onion as these crops are most in demand by the community and street vendors that buy from them.
Meanwhile, Sanjeev Raghubir, Shoprite’s group sustainability manager, says hunger relief and food security are at the core of its corporate social investment programmes. The group’s work impacts almost 53 000 beneficiaries. In the past year alone, more than 2 700 community members were trained in sustainable food gardening, assisting them to grow nutritious and organic food.
“Shoprite is committed to creating and supporting sustainable livelihood opportunities. By supporting community food gardens, we empower community members to sustain themselves and their families by creating independence through transferring skills,” says Raghubir.
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