FEEDING THE HUNGRY AT UKZN
Four thousand food parcels have been distributed to students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, but much more needs to be done to prevent young people from going hungry.
That was the message stressed during the World Food Day event held at the Colin Webb Hall and on the library lawns at the Pietermartizburg main campus on Saturday.
World Food Day was initiated by the United Nations in the 1940s, in recognition of the plight of all the poor, hungry and malnourished people in the world.
“According to current figures an estimated one billion people – that’s one in every seven – go to bed hungry around the world,” said Professor Albert Modi, Deputy Vice Chancellor and head of the College of Agriculture Engineering and Science.
“Governments don’t do enough to address this issue.”
Modi said it was essential to encourage more people to grow their own food. Not only will they become more self-supporting, but they are also guaranteed to eat nutritious fresh vegetables.
Speaking to Village Talk, he added: “I am involved in looking at the impact the food insecurity has on our students and their academic performance. Many of them come from rural areas and townships and the majority are funded by NSFAS.
“I lead a task team, which also has representatives from student support services as well as members of staff from all the colleges. Together we have approached NGOs and companies in the private sector for help.”
The biggest supporter of the food security programme, piloted in 2020, is the Gift of the Givers Foundation, based in Pietermaritzburg, but UKZN has also received help from the Divine Life Society, Rise Against Hunger, Food Forward SA and the Tiny Steps Care Team. Their assistance amounts to more than R2.4 million.
Speaking about the UKZN’food programme, Amith Ramballie said: “We are only scratching the surface of those in need at UKZN … our future plans include providing students with one meal a day from the university kitchens, a food bank and we would love for more people to start food gardens.”
At Saturday’s event students from the Pietermaritzburg campus each presented a report of how they started and maintained their gardens. They also spoke about the challenges they faced over the past year and what the project has taught them about the importance of eating vegetables. The winners were Denison House.
Modi, who also teaches crop science at the university, said that in addition to helping students, they have been working with small-scale farmers in rural areas of the province.
“If you go to the rural areas, you will find that many people in one village have 2ha of land,” he said. “If that village has 500 people that means that together they have 1000ha. We need to encourage them to work together as co-operatives.”
The professor said they were also doing research into indigenous crops to get more people to plant them and they have partnered with business and organisations like the Technology Innovation Agency to train small-scale farmers to understand the importance of food security.
Through these programmes they hope to provide employment opportunities for young men and women and to reduce the number of people leaving the rural areas to seek what they hope will be a better life in the KZN’s cities..