The Answer Lies in the Soil

BY: .

UKZN’s Farmer Support Group (FSG) and the community around Msinga have hosted yet another successful event titled: “Sustainable Agriculture for Food Sovereignty”.

The FSG provides smallholder farmers with training, advice and project support, ranging from organic and indigenous gardening to manufacturing building blocks with the aim being to assist them and other land-users to actively manage their natural and related cultural resources in a sustainable manner in order to improve their livelihoods and quality of life.

A Food Sovereignty Indaba was held in Bergville in October last year in conjunction with the Okhahlamba Local Municipality and this was followed by the Sustainable Agriculture for Food Sovereignty event which allowed farmers to share what they had learned during the Indaba and discuss issues related to sustainable agriculture.

Day one started off with a brief overview of the event and its logistics and a group allocation for a site visit to the community gardens within Msinga. These events are a highlight of the year for most of these farmers and it clearly showed as the women started to sing and dance as they walked to the mini busses. The sites visited by groups focused on specific themes such as bee-keeping, planting systems, water harvesting techniques, flood irrigation, savings, marketing, and brick making.

On arrival at the Sizathina group’s farm the rain came down but it did not dampen the spirits of these people who proudly showed off their crops and shared their experiences and knowledge with the visitors.

The farmers work in groups or individually, depending on availability of land and other resources. The Sizathina group consists of 21 women, each having an equal share of work on the same piece of land. They have a joint bank account where the proceeds are kept to sustain their agricultural activities.  Each individual also has her own vegetable garden which she manages to suit her own needs. This enables her to feed her family or sell to the local community.

This group also produces their own seeds and has their own nursery.

The Institute of Natural Resources (INR) in collaboration with UKZN postgraduate students are currently conducting a research project in the garden related to soil erosion, water harvesting and irrigation. Similar research projects in association with UKZN are also currently running in other areas of the Msinga Municipality.

Two community group gardens were visited. The first was in Gudwini, which involves 29 women. Discussions focused on group coherence and management to ensure every member has an equal work load. Thereafter the group discussed their plating methods and conservation practices.

They also discussed their saving scheme in order to buy agricultural inputs and how it has worked thus far. Visitors were also interested in seed saving; one group member showcased her saved spinach seeds.

At the second garden in Mkhuphula, members discussed their group management and planting techniques, such as intercropping with chillies and explained their production of garlic for the market. They also showcased their bee-keeping site where they harvest honey for the market.

Day two focused on a plenary discussion which allowed farmers and stakeholders to share outcomes and recommendations of the previous day’s site visits and discuss various agricultural related issues.

A local councillor gave a very inspiring speech in which she asked the people to keep up the hard work.  Her message was clear: ‘Our work is in our soil’. 

Director of FSG, UKZN’s Dr Maxwell Mudhara, outlined the importance of understanding food sovereignty and thanked the local farmers for their co-operation with these projects.

Mudhara concluded by thanking the funders, Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) and Tshintsha Amakhaya.

The function ended with a delicious lunch prepared by women in the area who used meat from their own livestock and vegetables from their gardens.  They sang and danced while preparing the feast in traditional pots on fires.

The FSG and members from the community have joined forces in various projects in the Msinga district since 2004 and organise similar projects in other areas, including Bergville.

Farmers in rural areas often struggle with the same daily obstacles and events such as Sustainable Agriculture for Food Sovereignty not only educate them but remind them they have group support.

-          Gail du Toit