APRIL 2009 SPRING WORKS
Borobelo is a typical village in rural South Africa. Food is scarce, the community is 80 percent jobless, and finding food to feed a family is a constant struggle.
ADRA agriculturalist and avid gardener Dolf Swanepoel is working to break the cycle of hunger in Borobelo and across South Africa. More than 20 Borobelo villagers gathered to watch Swanepoel lay a network of rubber hoses and water valves in the dry dirt, part of an innovative irrigation system that makes it simple for anyone to keep a small garden.
Swanepoel has been teaching the NewStart gardening system to people throughout South Africa since 2004. He and his son travel from village to village, targeting areas with high poverty rates and showing everyone how they can grow enough food to provide for their families. Crowds always gather at each stop, and the ADRA team teaches eco-gardening to as many as 150 people a month.
Swanepoel estimates that he’s trained about 2,000 people during the past five years.
"“The success of the NewStart eco-gardens gives me hope every morning for a new day,” Swanepoel said. “The future of our society rests on our relationship with nature. By looking after it, we look after ourselves.”
Gardening in South Africa can be difficult; the country’s semiarid climate and prolonged droughts make it nearly impossible to grow crops without an effective irrigation system. Swanepoel’s system is easily constructed out of readily available materials and is easy for anyone to maintain. It also allows the farmers to control the amount of water each section of the garden receives, giving each plant the perfect amount.
Eco-gardening gives families a healthy, affordable route to complete food security. Families that keep a garden see an overall improvement in their health, which can lead to higher performance in school or work, as well as lower medical costs.
ADRA’s NewStart eco-gardens have been so successful that they have even received funding from the South African government. In fact, the government is very aware of the impact eco-gardens can have, not only on the well-being of individual families, but also on the socioeconomic conditions of entire cities.
Low-tech, simple eco-gardening: one way ADRA is helping to improve the lives of the world’s most needy and vulnerable people.
Learn more about the Agriculture Gap in South Africa and around the world.
