By Staff Reporter
news@alexreporter.co.za

A local entrepreneur and resident of Nobuhle Hostel, Thuthukani ‘Makoya’ Khumalo has embarked on a mission to educate locals about the importance of owning a vegetable garden at home.

Khumalo, who started his garden project in November to feed his family said vegetable gardens can play a huge role to alleviate hunger and poverty in South Africa.

Khumalo, who hails from a rural town of Ulundi in the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal arrived in Johannesburg in the year 2000 to look for greener pastures.

He said growing up in the rural areas he learned an important skill of tilting the ground for a living.

“I started this garden because I was tired of buying basic things like onion, spinach and cabbage. As someone who is not formally employed, I had to think out of the box in order to find ways to save the little financial leftovers I have.

“I also believe that alleviation of hunger and poverty starts with small initiatives like this one,” Khumalo said.

Khumalo said apart from feeding his family, he also wanted to teach and raise awareness about food security through his garden.

“The economic turmoil and food security problems faced by our country compels us at the ground level to come up with ideas that will enable us to feed ourselves. It is high time that we go back to the basics and teach youngsters about farming,” he said.

He encouraged locals to consider starting using small spaces in their back yards to plant vegetable and stop depending on handouts.

“We must learn to use our space to produce food. It can either be the back yard or the roof of your house. We must also teach the younger generation the importance of vegetable garden and farming industry,” he said.