{"id":874268,"date":"2026-09-08T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=874268"},"modified":"2026-09-08T08:56:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T06:56:03","slug":"one-province-in-south-africa-asks-residents-to-start-producing-their-own-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/874268\/one-province-in-south-africa-asks-residents-to-start-producing-their-own-food\/","title":{"rendered":"One province in South Africa asks residents to start producing their own food"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture has urged communities to grow their own food through the province’s Ilima Lokulima (“Let’s cultivate together”) programme to combat food insecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastern Cape Agriculture MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe recently visited food gardens and community agricultural projects in Makhanda, located in the Sarah Baartman District. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This visit was part of the department’s initiative to promote household food production, reduce poverty, and strengthen food security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The programme was launched in 2024 following findings from the South African Human Rights Commission, which reported high levels of poverty and malnutrition in the province. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Ilima Lokulima, households and smallholder farmers have received production packs, farming tools, and equipment support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department’s spring water protection programme has led to the installation of taps in several villages, providing households with access to water and creating employment opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beneficiaries at the Makhanda projects reported that access to land, equipment, and agricultural support has significantly improved their livelihoods and reduced their household food costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project also aims to reduce household costs and create income opportunities through agricultural production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union Against Hunger Founder Mark Heywood told the SABC<\/a> that the hunger and malnutrition crisis in the Eastern Cape is very severe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver 30% of children by the age of five are stunted due to insufficient nutritious food. Hundreds of children die every year because of severe acute malnutrition,\u201d said Heywood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that thousands of families in the Eastern Cape live with hunger as an \u201calmost permanent condition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Eastern Cape is one of the provinces in the country that is worst affected by hunger and malnutrition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Eastern Cape is being hard hit, Heywood said that hunger and malnutrition are a nationwide crisis in South Africa, affecting all provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although food insecurity in South Africa is high, it is not an agriculturally constrained country. South Africa is a country that produces a significant agricultural surplus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safety concerns over informal grocery shops in Gauteng<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Food insecurity is present in many of South Africa\u2019s provinces, pushing people to rely more on the informal market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, the Public Protector published preliminary findings concerning the enforcement of food safety regulations at spaza shops in Gauteng. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report indicated that municipalities in the province have failed to effectively enforce food safety regulations in tuck shops and other food-handling businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This investigation was initiated after several children across the country tragically lost their lives in 2024 after allegedly consuming snacks from spaza shops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, 20 children, most of whom were aged between eight and ten years old, died in this incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation revealed the presence of toxic organophosphate pesticides in the snacks that the children consumed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report highlighted that Gauteng has only about 30% of the environmental health inspectors it requires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shortage means that many tuck shops, informal shops, and other food outlets operate with little to no oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Public Protector identified a critical shortage of inspectors, which has resulted in ongoing food-poisoning risks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 72% of informal spaza shops across South Africa are operating without the necessary licenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spaza shops, also known as tuck shops, originated during the Apartheid-era South Africa when historically disadvantaged individuals were restricted from owning formal businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, they began setting up informal, micro-convenience shops from their homes to serve the daily needs of their communities in the townships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term “spaza” is a generic Northern Sotho colloquial expression meaning \u201chidden\u201d or \u201ccamouflaged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vusumuzi Dlamini, Gauteng Provincial Representative and part of the investigations, informed SABC that the local government, specifically the municipality, holds primary responsibility for enforcing food safety in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that municipalities must employ inspectors to ensure compliance from food retailers, spaza shops, and other food preparation establishments, as required by the Constitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The provincial department of agriculture is encouraging communities to grow their own produce to tighten food security. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":874339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2097218649094267061","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2199270244226708","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18163894582481158","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[20591,26438],"class_list":["post-874268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-department-of-agriculture","tag-food-insecurity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874268"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874340,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874268\/revisions\/874340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}