Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip is due to make a presentation on Tuesday to the National Council of Provinces in parliament that could bode well for urban farming in the metro.
Trollip’s presentation will focus on the metro’s expenditure this year of the Urban Settlements Development Grant from the Treasury and part of the positive windfall that should result will be used to increase aid to emerging farmers.
The mayor made the commitment to 40-odd farmers who packed the City Hall on Thursday last week for the distribution of agri-equipment, products and produce as part of the metro’s sustainable development strategy.
Last year, the metro spent 100% of its grant and – in line with the Treasury’s policy of punishing under-expenditure of funding and rewarding compliant and prudent use – it received a windfall in return of R178m.
Trollip told the farmers the metro had repeated its expenditure achievement and was hoping for an even bigger windfall with the Treasury’s allocation later this year.
“My commitment is that if we get more money, and if you can show you are using what you are already receiving responsibly, then we can allocate more to support emerging farmers.”He said his expectation was that the metro’s department of economic development, tourism and agriculture would seek to double or even triple the agriculture budget if the extra funds landed as hoped.
The budget is presently just R1.1m and R700 000 of that has already been spent on repairing boreholes.
Part of the balance of R400 000 was used to fund the agri-bonanza of fencing, irrigation infrastructure, pig and chicken feed, seed and seedlings, fertiliser, hosing and forks and spades distributed at the City Hall on Thursday.
Trollip called on urban farmers to help stamp out dumping of rubbish on empty land.
“It is a curse. Your cattle are eating plastic and nappies. Please help us to stop these people who are defiling our open space.”
He said the metro’s many failed agri-projects, reflected in empty kraals and pens and “tattered vegetable tunnels with plastic flapping in the wind”, were all too evident, and that a new strategy was needed.
“We are going to create opportunities and help those that are already trying to help themselves. Our support will go to the people and not to the tenderpreneurs.”
Successful urban farming enterprises might range from household food security to commercial enterprises but the common thread had to be independence and sustainability.
Economic development, tourism and agriculture executive director Anele Qaba said the metro was trying to identify suitable land for farmers to run the at least 3 600 cattle and goats in the metro.
Representatives of the national and provincial agriculture departments at the city hall event welcomed the metro’s initiatives.
The departments endorsed Trollip’s argument that more could be done for urban farmers if the three tiers of government worked together.
Nelson Mandela Bay Farmers’ Association deputy chair Mzukisi Swepu said there were 184 farmers across the metro.
Urban farmer Robert Matsabisa, of Wells Estate, whose backyard agri-enterprise includes a myriad of vegetables, juice, soap and birds for the pet shop trade, said individual farms and not co-operatives were the way forward.
“I went from nothing to something good,” Matsabisa said.
“If I can do it – so can you.”