Township garden heals farmers
The Sizakancane project is making a difference
GROWING crops has not only become a source of food which provides a healthy diet for families in townships but it is also a deterrent to diabetes.
Three members of Sizakancane project in Kwandengezi on the outer west of Durban said gardening had improved their health conditions tremendously.
A 78-year-old farmer, Isaiah Mlotshwa, said crop growing required a lot of exercise. Mlotshwa said he owed his healthy lifestyle to eating fresh vegetables. He advised diabetic people to start growing crops to avoid eating junk food which was not healthy.
“Smelling fresh herbs is always healing to the body and mind. It is a special remedy to many illnesses like arthritis. But the ultimate part is that the hard work keeps me fit. I do not recall when last I visited a doctor. Many pensioners out there are diabetic. They always complain but if they can start small crops in their backyards their conditions could change,” he said.
Mlotshwa said he was doing exactly what the Department of Health had been advising – to eat healthy food from the garden. Among other vegetables planted on the land acquired from the ethekwini Municipality were spinach, cabbage, carrots, yams (madumbes), sweet potatoes, sugar beans which were all sold for R10 a bunch.
Nomusa Mkhize, 50, said she was able to feed her family of eight by selling veggies from the garden.
“My family depends on me to survive. As they say ‘no pain, no gain’. Over the years I was able to pay their school fees and buy their uniforms with the money made from selling veggies. I am also able to join stokvel with other local women to prepare for a rainy day,” she said.
However, Mkhize said the drought which nearly wiped out their crop has had a negative impact on their produce but she was excited with the latest rain which gave the soil a new lease of life.
“The smell of soil is so refreshing,” she said.
Another farmer, Mbhekeni Shezi, 61, advised those who aspire to become crop growers to first get experience by attending workshops.
He said it was easy for him to get into farming because his parents were farmers.
“But my children do not want anything to do with working in the garden.
“They claim the soil is dirty but yet they are first to munch on the harvested veggies, be it spinach or carrots. This will break the long family circle which started way back from (our) ancestors,” Shezi said.
Shezi was proud to cook his own produced vegetables which saved him a lot of money.
“We only buy food that we cannot produce in our garden,” Shezi said.
He was grateful for the support from ethekwini Municipality and the Department of Agriculture which supplied them with fertiliser and seeds.
nkululeko.nene@inl.co.za