Vegetable garden feeds all

AVEGETABLE garden growing on the banks of Inanda Dam has brought hope for the neighbouring village community by providing food for their families.

The success of the garden visited by the Sunday Tribune could be attributed to a group of farmers who have created job opportunities for the youth in the village.

At the farm, four young men originally from Amatola in Mozambique were hard at work harvesting fresh spinach to be distributed to the markets.

While the founder, Mbali Ishmael, attended workshops to enhance her farming skills and market their produce to supermarkets, the Mozambican nationals, Giorgio Gonsalves, 18, Crimildon Samuel, 18, Julius Simon Mabuza, 21, and Simon Raphael Nyatsau, 18, were working on ensuring quality produce for the markets.

They grow beetroot, cabbage, lettuce, spinach and sweet potatoes on the almost five-hectare farm.

Although the dam level has been extremely low following the severe drought last season, the garden still produces lush vegetables.

Mabuza said they left their poverty-stricken village in Mozambique two years ago to search for work in Kwazulunatal.

But when they met with Ishmael, their passion for farming was revived after she told them about her bountiful crop growing in the village.

“We are happy to earn a living while feeding the community. We have been growing crops back home but, with the high level of poverty, we decided to leave,” Mabuza said.

Samuel said he doesn’t regret working in the field because the locals have shown them a lot of support by buying their produce.

“We are taking pride in our daily gardening work which feeds the community and our families. Our mantra is to feed our struggling families back home while we are also learning new methods in farming,” he said.

Ishmael said she started the programme a few years ago to provide mentorship to rural women.

She said her role was also to attend workshops and find markets for their produce.

“Our lush crops have won several awards from the Department of Agriculture,” she said.

“It rejuvenated our passion and spirit. I assist women on other farms through mentorship and advice on how to save their profits made.

“Farming is a skill that always challenges a farmer to keep learning to stay abreast with changes in weather patterns and soil structure. Farming lessons adequately prepare one to avoid loss during the bad season.”