GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Rochida Elias of Vrygronde informal settlement, recently donated freshly harvested produce from the Vrygronde Agroecological Hub to elderly residents in Graaff-Reinet.

The hub concept was introduced by the Co-operative Policy Alternative Centre (Copac), a grassroots development organisation based at Wits University, the Support Centre for Land Change (SCLC) and other strategic partners as part of the South African Food Sovereignty Campaign (SAFSC) as poverty and hunger are major challenges in rural communities.

This particular agroecological hub was established during the 2020 lockdown and launched on 23 April 2021 with the primary objectives of developing adaptation strategies in response to the impact of the climate crisis on production and the availability of food in the Vrygronde informal settlement. It also promotes agroecology as a sustainable alternative to dirty fossil fuel developments such as shale gas exploration (fracking) that have been pushed for in parts of South Africa, particularly in the Karoo.

Infrastructure and agricultural inputs for the establishment of the Vrygronde Agroecological Hub were made available to the community by a local business, Montego Feeds, and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, a German donor that has been supporting the national #BanFracking Campaign launched by the SCLC in 2015.

Rochida Elias (right) and Milisant Norman.

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