By Thembi Mabhula

Urban agriculture is increasingly becoming a crucial part of the overall strategy to combat rising food prices, climatic change as well as an alternative livelihood in the face of worsening levels of unemployment, especially in less developed countries.

SA Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni recently said that the central bank would not react to fuel and food-related inflation pressures. This was after fuel prices had increased to unprecedented levels. The prices have since slumped substantially but this does not seem to have translated to real positive relief for the consumers. Seemingly the benefits will take some time to seep through. High rates of unemployment have not helped matters much and millions of people are struggling to get by.

Spatial apartheid left the majority of South Africans living in urban and peri-urban areas characterised by extremely poor environmental conditions. Some emphasis has lately been focused on the growing of basic foodstuff in both urban and peri-urban areas, but there still remains a lot to be done by urban authorities to ensure success of planned initiatives and to provide effective support towards the establishment of agriculturally vibrant urban communities. Bantustan-era planned agricultural schemes have been mooted with some calling for the revitalisation of schemes around Peddie, Seymour and Whitlesea and others in the former Transkei.

Urban agriculture naturally integrates into the urban economy and ecological systems in the urban as well as the peri-urban areas. The nature and various characteristics of our towns enable urban agriculture to link well to various resources. Apartheid cities and towns have patches of land that were used as buffer zones to segregate blacks and the whites. Bylaws need to be reviewed to enable such land to be released legally to people for agricultural purposes. Furthermore, in urban areas there is idle land along public roads, railway lines and public or private land around industrial areas, schools, hospitals and clinics. More useful land is available within peoples’ homesteads where backyard gardens can be introduced.

The urban setting further provides access to waste water or grey water that can be used for irrigation to avoid the costs of using water metered by the municipality. The cost of metered water is a big challenge to the success of backyard and community gardens. Some of the urban wastewater from domestic and industrial sources as well as run-off actually contains nutrients that nourish food crops. However people need to be trained in handling such potentially hazardous water. The training would include guiding them on how to use protective clothing. Waste organic material is easily available and can be used to make compost which is important for fertilizing the land.

The policy review on land tenure and agricultural related policies is also in need of urgent attention. Local authorities need to begin to pave the way for private land ownership in order to spur agricultural production. Current policies make it difficult for community-based projects to own land that can be used for cultivating crops or setting up markets. Technical support and capacity building is often inadequate at the local level. Government departments that are currently involved in urban community projects include Water Affairs and Forestry, Agriculture, Land Affairs, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Health, and Education. However their assistance to communities residing in townships is minimal if any.

Since many townships were regarded as dormitory areas, there is no sense of ownership and little incentive for residents to improve the environment. Urban agriculture not only enables people to obtain fresh and healthy vegetables but it is also commercially viable as people can sell their surplus. Commercial enterprises can be started that operate as community-based projects (CBOs), co-operatives, micro and small businesses to medium sized or even large scale enterprises.

There are good examples of this kind of enterprise from the rest of the world. In Hanoi in Vietnam, 80% of fresh vegetables, 50% of pork, poultry and fresh water fish, as well as 40% of eggs, originate from urban and peri-urban areas. In Accra in Ghana, 90% of the city’s fresh vegetable consumption is from production within the city (Ruaf Foundation).

South African urban communities still depend solely on manufactured products, depending on food industries and food retailers who sell food to them at exorbitant prices. Resources available in our urban areas can be used effectively to generate food at minimal costs.

One of the major pre-requisites of a thriving urban agricultural economy is the availability of a central market. Most of our urban areas do not have a place or land allocated by the municipality for transacting vegetables and other agricultural products. A formal market would provide hawkers with decent stalls where they can also store whatever they are selling. They are afforded the dignity of having their customers coming to them and knowing where to find them. The lack of a formal market forces small-scale food sellers to shelter on the pavements and verandas. The result is dirty streets and humiliating police raids during which the traders lose their merchandise and money.

Municipalities can certainly do better than this.

References
www.burrep.co.za/Business Report)
www.circle of blue.org/water/world/wasting away)
www.crdi.ca/fr/ev/CFP Report)
www.ruaf.org/node/ Ruaf Foundation

First published in the Transformer Vol. 14 No. 6 / Dec 2008 - Jan 2009