Five years ago when Covid lockdown hit hard it showed the vulnerability of food systems and the realities of hunger even in urban areas and in cities like Joburg. 

For Nkululeko Motloung and Sizwe Ndhlovu, lockdown cost them their jobs that were linked to the creative industries. Back home on Jozi’s East Rand during the lockdown Motloung turned to the wisdom of his grandmother who had always been a grower of foods and started planting  his own vegetable gardens in Tsakane. 

From the start the pair wanted to work with the wider community and focused on including elders and young people to create a community food garden. They only had R500 to invest to begin with, but as they harvested from the gardens they had worked hard to nurture, they were able to ensure that people in their community could put food on their table and have surplus produce to sell.

Five years on Motloung and Ndhlovu have formed Plenty Green Africa. Grounded in the roots of community urban food gardening, they are a business but have at their heart the intention to be part of a movement to make food justice and food sovereignty a reality for more people.

What was the problem?

Many people in South Africa are struggling under the double burden of rising household costs and rising unemployment. There is the added dilemma that people are not getting enough good nutrition, including through fruits and vegetables, in order to sustain themselves and their families.

The old knowledge of how to work the land and to keep it healthy have also been forgotten or lost. People also don’t have land on which to produce foods for their tables or for the market.

How are they solving it?

Motloung and Ndhlovu have over the years grown the idea of urban farming into a business. They sell harvest boxes, offer vegetable garden workshops and do food garden installations. But central to their aims is working on building communities.

Says Motloung: “Working with the soil is sacred and you learn that you have to work in balance with everything – the elders and the young people, for instance. The elders have the knowledge and we are the people who can hold that knowledge and pass it on to the young people who are our future generations.”

Plenty Green Africa is also part of the South African Food Sovereignty Campaign and is proudly part of food sustainability networks.

“We are evolving to include new innovations like permaculture, regenerative agriculture, agroecology and seed saving that weren’t what we were talking about in the beginning. But even as we grow we want to be true to being about impact for the community,” he says. 

They continue to work with others to build strong foundations to ensure that cities are not concrete jungles, he says, but are spaces where people can thrive -  starting with being able to go to bed at night on a full stomach.

What makes it work?

Addressing everyday needs – By responding to the challenges of hunger and unemployment, Plenty Green Africa taps into solutions for the challenging realities of many South Africans. They also grow indigenous crops, herbs and medicinal plants. 

Working with collaborators  - The pair has worked with fellow farmers in Soweto as well as partners in academia and a broad network of like-minded community activists in the food justice space. Motloung says it’s helped to be able to share knowledge, overcome blind spots and to be more clear about their personal goals. 

Staying true to a vision for impact  - Plenty Green Africa has a focus, that Motloung says, is about “reimagining cities as thriving ecosystems, not just buildings and concrete infrastructure”. Impact he says is about responding to needs and being adaptable and resilient – it’s the way cities can be sustainable. 

Maintaining a strong media presence – Through telling their story and ensuring their message gets out to a wide audience, they are able to build their business, but importantly also to express their vision and ideals of growing food as part of  building better communities. 

  **** 

Acknowledgements

Author: Fixlocal Reporter

Additional articles/sources: https://kasikonnect.online/show/plenty-green-ekhuruleni-gauteng/wiki __

Contact Plenty Green Africa – info@plentygreenafrica.co.za

Photograph: Plenty Green Africa