Garden grows in Soweto

A VEGETABLE garden at Inkwenkwezi Primary School will help put food on the table for the children, as well as improve environmental literacy.Read More
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A vegetable garden at Inkwenkwezi Primary School will help put food on the table for the children, as well as improve environmental literacy.
A NEW gardening project that will help combat hunger among schoolchildren has been launched at Inkwenkwezi Primary School, in the Soweto suburb of Diepkloof.

RametseMusa Rametse from City Parks says the garden will meet the needs of the communityJohannesburg City Parks in partnership with Total SA and Coca-Cola became involved in the project to enhance environmental literacy and support a nutritious school feeding programme.

About R35 000 was invested into the vegetable garden. Speaking at the launch on Tuesday, 8 November, Musa Rametsi, City Parks’ environment education officer, said it would help to address the school’s social concerns.

“I hope this garden will go a long way,” said Rametsi. “A vegetable garden means healthy local food for the community.”

Programmes like vegetable gardens would help reduce the incidence of malnutrition.

Total South Africa’s sales and marketing sustainable development manager, Nyameka Makonya, said the garden should be used as tool to educate children and parents about the nutritious advantages of fresh locally grown food, while helping children get balanced meals.

“We need to start using and taking our environment quite seriously,” said Makonya, pledging to continue supporting the project.

The school’s deputy principal, Zama Radebe, hoped that the vegetable garden would eventually affect all areas of education. “This project is going to assist learners and communities with nutrition and fight junk food addictions that are causing an explosion of health problems throughout the city.”

He hoped that it would help to change the attitude of people living in the surrounding communities towards gardening. “In this school most of the pupils come from impoverished communities and often come to school on empty stomachs,” he pointed out.

Workers under the Expanded Public Works Programme together with Grade Six pupils will maintain the garden.