Mogale City Local Municipality in partnership with the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg joined hands in an agricultural project to economically improve the lives of unemployed and historically disadvantaged small-scale farmers.
The partnership started early this year and was initiated by Archbishop Buti Tlhagale who approached the Office of the City’s Executive Mayor Councillor Francis Makgatho with one main request relating to the use of land for implementation of an agricultural project. Driven by the frustration of seeing communities not having land for food security, Archbishop Tlhagale was led to approach Mogale City.
Through ongoing engagement and on the ground work done on the side of the church group, the collaboration blossomed and resulted in Mogale City welcoming the proposal and eventually availed about 10 hectares of land in Ga-Mogale, Magaliesburg for the project. The land will be used for agricultural farming, which includes both tunnel gardening and open field farming.
This week saw the handing over of the land to the group through its non-profit organisation Dinehelo during a spirited church service event held under a pro-woman farming empowerment theme, which also included the symbolic land soil tilting marking the launch or commencement of the farming project.
The Council for Black Market Agents (CBMA) is commissioned to spearhead the farming project with the aim to operationalize, provide guidance, skills and mentorship to specifically women farmer trainees from the local community to assure sustainable production of various crops, market access and sustainability.
Councillor Makgatho said: “We are proud as a city to have partnered with the Catholic Archdiocese to change the lives of our people for the better. We are also blessed to have an opportunity of providing our previously disadvantaged small-scale farmers with this rare prospect to create employment for our people. We want this project to be the highlight of Ga-Mogale and by providing benefit not only for the communities of Mogale City but beyond”, the Executive Mayor concluded.
The project has yielded more than eight locals having found employment on the farm, with the project having further created casual job opportunities for 15 more locals. Among the crops to be grown are tomatoes, cabbage, spinach, beans, and green, yellow, and red peppers as well as English cucumber.
An elated Archbishop Tlhagale in his closure remarks said: “We are hopeful that this project will expand and create more jobs for the people. We want to urge our local communities and the current employees of the farm to develop a sense of ownership towards the project as this is going to benefit their families.”