Agricultural Co-operative project providing food, jobs

The Manyeding Agricultural Co-operative project is gaining its heights and is successfully moving forward in its fight against the hunger and poverty in communities near Kuruman in South Africa's Northern Cape province.

The co-operative chairperson  Boitshoko Moacwi said to SA news on Thursday that “The demand of our production from the neighbouring villages is very high and with the support that we receive from both, the government and the private sector, this green project will never become a burden.”

The co-operative is a part of a government intervention called Fetsa Tlala (End Hunger), which attempts to promote self sufficiency by helping various communities to produce food including maize, beans, wheat, sunflower, groundnuts and potatoes on communal as well as under used land.

This initiative of this project is to help small farmers put one million hectares of land which is lying under production over the next five years, and also helping small businesses process the crops once they are harvested.

Jacob Zuma had a visit to the Manyeding project on Thursday afternoon as a part of official launch of Fetsa Tlala.

Moacwi said that the Manyeding co-operative along with a total of 159 beneficiaries from Manyeding and the surrounding villages was situated on 137 hectares are produced organic vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, green beans, cabbage and pumpkins.

“Total we are having 24 permanent employees and people from this area are no longer needed to travel to Kuruman town to buy vegetables, because they are very much aware that we are the one who are supporting Pick n Pay, Boxer and Spar with our fresh production.”

At the project there are three tractors and a central pivot irrigation system which helps in conserving water. Moacwi further said that, since they have connected water pipes from a fountain about 4.5 km away from their small dam and expand their project of producing bottled water.

He also said that the provincial department of agriculture had contributed R5 million for the project which also included the construction of their package storage facility.

Kumba Iron Ore, the National Development Agency, the National Development Agency, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, the Baga Jankie Tribal Authority, the Joe Morolong Local Municipality, and the John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality are also included in the project.

Mashilo Mokotong, the managing head of sustainable development at Kumba Iron Ore's Sishen Mine, said that a total of 27 community projects they were funding, “this is the only project where there is no arguments for leader positions or any other racial conflicts. The increasing demand of our products clearly states that they are winning their fight against the hunger, poverty and food insecurity.”

Mokotong also added that Kumba had contributed R10 million for the project since 2010, including R1.4 million for this financial year, and also contracted with the supply chain management company OrganiMark to provide organic management training to the people so that they can work on the project.