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Home » 10.000 Orti in Africa » Mvuleni Community Garden

Mvuleni Community Garden

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South Africa

Limpopo

This five ha community garden, founded by Daniel Mnisi, is cultivated by 15 people. The garden is situated in Mayepu village, Giyani, Limpopo province and operates on land allocated by the Tribal Authority in the area. The group has registered as a trading cooperative to fit within the South African legal framework.
The water is provided by the local municipality, and the soil is rich in nutrients so that crops cultivated can easily adapt to the local climatic condition, which is low land.
The group has attended agro-ecological training workshops and has purchased various gardening tools (a jojo tank, wheelbarrows, hand hoes, digging forks). They have also installed a drip roll irrigation system, which is now making it easier for them to work in the garden.
Crops cultivated in the garden include winter crops such as spinach, cabbage, onions, carrots and tomatoes while the summer crops are: peanuts, corn, watermelon, legumes, baby marrow, and tindluwa (which looks like and is planted like peanuts, but can only be eaten when cooked, and it is mainly as an ingredient in some indigenous dishes such as Tihove and Xiendlahivomu). The products are used for personal consumption while the group sells the surplus in the nearby town, Giyani, and to the local people to get a little revenue for the daily family expenses.

Area
Mayepu Village, Giyani, Limpopo province

Coordinator
Daniel Mnisi

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

Type:Community Garden
Coordinator:Africa Mauhayisi Mthombeni
Sibling with:Baladin, Italy

Photos

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