Durban — In some far-flung corners of KwaZulu-Natal, farmers, mainly women, have become savvy food production exponents who are able to provide for their families.
It’s in places like Msinga and Okhahlamba that the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Food Support Group (FSG) work has taken root and flourished.
The unit is the university’s outreach programme where rural farmers, predominantly women, receive infrastructure support, assistance with crop growing and are given an understanding on how the market works.
The annual Msinga Food and Nutrition Fair, which is another FSG-driven initiative, was held on Thursday.
Msinga has 19 groups of farmers and they come together at a predetermined site for the fair, to evaluate their progress and to share ideas.
At the fair was Thulisile Ngqulunga, a local farmer with long-standing FSG affiliation. She grows potatoes, spinach, beetroot and cabbages for subsistence purposes.
As the main breadwinner in her family of five children, three grandchildren and three orphans in her care, Ngqulunga’s fresh produce goes a long way.
While some veggies are sold, she believes her harvest can be more substantial and of a greater quality if she had a better water supply.
She began farming in 1992 but her output improved when the FSG started to provide assistance from 2004.
Through training, Ngqulunga said she has become a more resilient and knowledgeable farmer.
“It’s just the water supply that needs to improve. If we have tapped water in our area or storage systems when it rains, we will do better and produce vegetables for markets,” she said.
Apart from her water worries, her other wishes were for a supply of seedlings and farming implements and gear.
What stood out for Ngqulunga and others was the impact that water had on the hosting farm.
“This farm became operational around the same time as mine but the water supply from the irrigation system has done much to improve the quality of vegetables harvested. They also have taps,” she noted.
Professor Maxwell Mudhara, from the UKZN’s School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, and the FSG’s director, confirmed that the site in question had an effective water system.
“We are trying to get this system to other gardens to ease the burden of the farmers and help them increase their productivity.”
Mudhara said the FSG was committed to improving the food security position of farmers and they help in whatever way they can, with assistance from local and overseas donors.
He said the farmers usually chose plots of land to farm on with close water access.
Mudhara said there was no fair in 2022 but he was grateful that the event had returned this year and was hosted in Othobothini in Msinga.
“At this year’s fair venue, the owners struggled initially because of water access issues that have since been resolved. They have grown from strength to strength and are now able to sell their fresh produce.”
He said agriculture interested him greatly because it was “intriguing” that there were so many dimensions that had to be dealt with.
“You also get to see changes in people’s lives when they are able to produce food. It gives you joy.”
Mudhara said some farmers were able to earn from the sale of produce and the income was used for things such as school fees, seedlings and building houses.
The project began in the 1980s and Mudhara joined in 2005.
“It has always been the UKZN’s desire to help people with food security,” he added.
He said the government and other state institutes should also assist these farmers.
“One of our aims was for farmers to be self-sufficient, not passive and always waiting for help.
“This also helps women to be independent of their husbands, which was a big achievement.”
He said those farmers who could “stand on their own” were weaned off groups and became mentors to others.
Mudhara said they had project facilitators at the coal face of the project, meeting with farmers on a daily basis to assist, but they didn’t have enough resources to cover everyone.
“We do what we can,” he said.
Sunday Tribune