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Home » 10.000 Orti in Africa » Beauty Mkhonza Family Garden, Waterbus

Beauty Mkhonza Family Garden, Waterbus

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South Africa

KwaZulu-Natal

There are 30 family gardens scattered around the hills of Waterbus village in the Pongola region in Zululand district, 10km from the Swaziland border. Pongola is the closest city to the village and takes its name from the river that runs through it. The village is situated in a zone dedicated to the intensive production of sugar cane.
The gardens are small plots of 200 square meters. The average family in Pongola has six to eight family members, and the gardens are tended by all people living in the homestead, whether young or old. About 230 to 240 people are involved in the project.
The vegetables cultivated are spinach, mustard spinach, cabbage, carrots, beetroot, herbs, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, chillies, runner beans, mustard lettuce, lettuce, aubergine, onions, lettuce, tomato, green pepper, garlic chives, butternut and potatoes. Different field crops are also cultivated that form the staples of these communities’ diets, including maize, sweet potato, Jugo beans, pumpkins, watermelons, peanuts, beans, isambasamba (a small, white, drought-resistant bean which grows exclusively in the Pongola area), cassava and cow peas. UmGwenya (Wild Plum) and UmKhuhlu (Forest Natal Mahogony) trees are also cultivated, providing shade and attracting bees, butterflies and birds.
During the dry season, the temperatures drop and water is precious. During the raining season the women have adopted techniques to slow down the flow of and collect rainwater. Each family usually also has chickens, cows, goats, and the soil is fertilized using the manure from these animals.
Most households have granaries and maize is ground by hand on stone or by hand-operated machines. A five-litre container of ground meal will feed a family of 15 (adults and children) for three meals a day. The crops produced in the gardens are consumed in daily meals and surplus crops are sold to fund the cultivation of commodity crops such as green peppers, Jugo beans (African Groundnuts), etc.
The farming practices encouraged hinge on traditional methods that have been around for generations. The families practice organic farming, recycle natural resources and produce seeds.
The women of the community play an important role in the management of the gardens and of the surplus harvest. They work together with NGO Biowatch (www.biowatch.org.za) to produce and collect the seeds of many traditional varieties, thereby promoting biodiversity.

Garden location
Waterbus Village, Pongola Town, Zululand district, KwaZulu-Natal province

Coordinator
Lawrence Mkaliphi

Slow Food in South Africa

In the “Rainbow Nation,” indigenous ethnic groups—the Zulu, Xhosa, Venda and Tsonga to name just a few—have over the centuries been joined by Portuguese, British and Dutch colonizers, then subsequently by waves of Asian immigration. South Africa has the highest number of people of Indian descent outside of India in the world. Hundreds of languages are spoken across the many diverse environments, from the temperate and Mediterranean-like West Cape to the arid Karoo and the subtropical northeast. But the country’s spectacular biodiversity is being destroyed by human activity. Agricultural biodiversity, for example, has been drastically reduced due to the widespread use of GMO seeds. Around 80% of the maize being cultivated is genetically modified. This type of agriculture is linked to the similarly industrialized production of foods high in sugar, salt, fat, additives and refined flour, creating eating habits that are leading to a rapid increase in heart disease and obesity. For these reasons, the Slow Food network in South Africa is working to highlight the relationship between food and health. Awareness is being raised among consumers about the importance of eating local, seasonal food, and the Slow Meat campaign is promoting more responsible meat consumption, with lower quantities, higher quality and the use of different cuts to avoid waste. It is not just consumers who are in need of better information. South Africa also has many small-scale farming families with little basic knowledge who urgently need technical training in order to help them develop sustainable agriculture practices. The 10,000 Gardens in Africa project is therefore of particular importance to the country’s development and the health of its people.

Garden Informations

Types:Community Garden
Coordinatore:Nkosingiphile Lawrence Mkhaliphe
Sibling with:Akòmi Srl Company

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