Community garden gives a lifeline
The Westenburg Community Hub is a response to the demand for food security in the community of Westenburg.
The hub was started in 2021 and it is a saving grace for the community that is largely impoverished. The garden project is headed by the Winrainbow Lions in partnership with sponsor, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa.
Retang Segodi Malahlela, the chairperson of the Winrainbow Lions, explained that the garden is a community effort, a project run by the community for the community as well as various government departments that have shown support.
They have 10 grannies who are volunteering to tend to the garden which grows spinach, green and red peppers, spring onions, beetroot, tomatoes and chillies. They plan to increase their crop to better cater for the needs of the feeding scheme at the Good Hope Primary School.
Malahlela added that they aim to curb hunger in school because a hungry child can’t learn. “We have seen the demand in terms of food security in the community. The first harvest of the crop was given to the elderly, then the indigent families were also identified.
“The second harvest was donated to Good Hope Primary School and we are in talks for a long-term arrangement to have the vegetables from the garden be added to what they have for the schools feeding scheme,” he said.
The harvest that is not donated is sold and the proceeds of those sales are used to purchase more seeds. He added that the space is not just a garden, it’s a socio-economic hub that they are trying to put together.
“We have smart bins that are part of a recycling initiative we are putting together. There’s going to be a transfer station where we will recycle and create jobs. There’s still going to be containers, multipurpose facilities to house local entrepreneurs and different businesses,” he said. A year from now, they plan to have the space fully developed as a socio-economic business hub used to benefit the community. “The project aims to encourage the community to be self-sufficient in every aspect and the garden is one aspect of that. We want this place to grow around the concept of self- sustainability and tapping into the fourth industrial revolution, we are trying to incorporate a lot of projects, a multipurpose facility,” he said.