Member of the Mayoral Committee for Health and Social Development Cllr Mpho Phalatse launched a fish farming facility in Mzimhlophe, Soweto, on Thursday, 11 October 2018.
It is a joint initiative between the City of Joburg, Mondelez International Foundation and INMED Partnerships for Children.
The facility is an innovative and sustainable food production system that combines fish farming with hydroponic cultivation of plants in a closed recirculating freshwater system.
It is one of the most water-saving and pollution-preventing technologies and uses no antibiotics or pesticides. It is estimated that the facility will produce over 2 000kg of vegetables a year.
The vegetables produced at the fish farming facility will be used to feed the community, surrounding schools, orphanages and patients who visit the Elias Motsoaledi clinic (situated next to the fish farming facility).
One of the challenges identified by the City is that some patients who visit clinics do not have proper nutrition, which affects their ability to take pills.
The significance of the facility in Mzimhlophe was highlighted by Cllr Phalatse. “Mzimhlophe has an employment rate of only 37% and faces the triple burden of poverty, inequality and high unemployment. The facility will go a long way in curbing malnutrition, improve food security and create a source of income for the community,” said Cllr Phalatse.
The fish farming facility forms part of a broader strategy of the City of Joburg’s Food Security unit to promote and enhance urban agriculture, reduce the high levels of food insecurity and create economic opportunity across the City.
Some of the other programmes that the City’s Food Security Unit include:
• Food Bank/Food which is distributed - Food parcels to indigent families across the city
• Food garden - Household food gardens are established across the City with aim to break the inter-generational cycle of poverty. Families are encouraged to grow vegetable and grains in their backyards.
• Food empowerment zones/Agri parks - The city has established a system of food empowerment zones wherein households benefiting from food gardens are converted into sustainable and viable emerging farmers.
• Special programme on sustainable organic farming - The special programme was established in partnership with UNEP, GEF and DBSA to promote sustainable organic farming across the city.
• Agro-processing projects - Processing raw materials and intermediate products derived from primary production and cultivation in the agricultural sector.
• Farmer Market days - The Food Resilience Unit organise a farmers’ market days on monthly basis in various regions across the city. The events provide a platform for the farmers to sell their products directly to the clients.
