RESEARCH REPORT: “INVOLVING YOUTH IN AGROECOLOGICAL PRACTICES IN SOUTH AFRICA”

Research and wriTTEN BY

Ulrika Runsala (OPC)

Edited by Nick Hamer / june 2023

Abstract

Since the “green revolution” in the 1950 and 1960s, there have been environmental losses because of  intensive food production and chemical inputs. This revolution was supposed to end world hunger, but this has been proven to not be the case. There is now a call for a new food system, a sustainable food system.

Small-scale farmers have an important role in changing the food system. The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) sees agroecological food production to be a more sustainable practice versus large  scale commercial farming. Although agroecology has been recognised by the UN, the knowledge about the practice must be spread. Food democracy can only happen if the people within the food system know how to change the system.

This study examines youth involvement in agroecological practices. The methodology has been field visits with interviews, attending workshops and completed with a literature review. In conclusion, there is a need for both top-down and bottom-up approaches. The small-scale farmers and current urban gardens have a crucial role in educating the youth and involving them in agroecological practice. Politicians must recognise and create good conditions for ecological small-scale food production. As for NGOs, they have a role in both approaches. To educate, be the voice of the people and change politics through networking and campaigning.                                                                                             

1. Introduction

The green revolution in the 1950- and 1960s was seen as the solution for ending world hunger and a way to economic growth (Gollin et. al. 2022). The western countries of the global north took the opportunity after the second world war to “encourage” the implementation of these new agricultural strategies and practices in developing countries. A lot of money was invested by the global north to research these new techniques in the global south.

One of the main goals was to increase crop production and make food cheaper. Modifying crops was one of the latest techniques, such as high-yield varieties (HYV), which increases crop production (ibid). The green revolution succeeded in the industrialisation of agriculture and also in increasing crop production around the world (Black 2016). For example, the world food supply was 20% higher per capita in 2000 than in 1961 and crop production increased by 173% during 1950-1990 while the world's population only increased by 110% (ibid).

Although crop production has increased, high levels of world hunger are  still maintained. Black (2016) argues that the “Green revolution” promotes a narrative that there is too little food in the world. This narrative is promoted to support  capitalism within the agricultural sector. Industrial agricultural technologies and approaches include GMOs, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, large-scale machines and intensive monocultural crop production (Black, 2016).

These technologies have contributed to environmental damage and health declines, whilst  also giving corporations a monopoly over food systems. The reason for hunger is poverty, people don’t have the resources to buy and produce food. The distribution of the world's food is unequal because of the liberal global food market (ibid). The global north implemented industrial agriculture in the global south to end world hunger, but instead, it has created a market favouring the richer countries and corporations.

The “green revolution” is now finally being questioned at the.  In the wake of the climate crisis, the industrialisation of agriculture is not seen as the solution. Instead, agroecology is seen as a more desirable approach. The UN’s food and agricultural organisation (FAO) has acknowledged this approach as positive in achieving sustainable development goals (SDG) (FAO, 2019). SDG such as; Poverty eradication (SDG1), Zero Hunger (SDG2), Health and well-being (SDG3), Decent work and economic growth (SDG8), Responsible consumption and production (SDG12), Climate action (SDG13) and Life on earth (SDG15). However, there are challenges to achieving these sustainability goals with agroecology. Challenges include less funding for agroecological practices, insufficient investments and connection between the scientist and civil society (Avaclim, n.d.; ibid). Funding is one of the main challenges, even though recent science and UN bodies support agroecology (Both ENDS, n.d.).

Even though funding agroecological practices is fundamental to changing the current industrial food system. A food system is not only the value chain from producer to consumer, it is everything surrounding the food (Auerbach, 2020). It is also essential that the government, businesses and civil society work together in finding bottom-up solutions (Adelle, 2021). By knowledge sharing, the communities can change food systems and therefore food democracy is promoted.

Food democracy is when the people living in a food system can change the system, but to be able to change the food system, the people within it must have the proper knowledge. Therefore, knowledge sharing about food systems is vital to create food democracy (ibid). Knowledge sharing can be shared through various channels, people and stakeholders. It can be argued that sharing knowledge is a form of advocacy. Because when we learn and share knowledge about agroecology as a sustainable solution, then we are also advocating it.

1.1 Background

1.1.1 Agroecology in South Africa

Agroecology is defined as sustainable agriculture practice with ecology and a social concept focused on small-scale farmers (Avaclim, 2022; Both ENDS, n.d.). The industrialization of agriculture has benefited large-scale farmers and excluded small-scale farmers with a top-down approach. But agroecology promotes biodiversity, local circular economics, inclusivity, traditional practices and restoring drylands (Avaclim, n.d.)

Many agroecology farmers are women, making this practice more equal and inclusive (Both ENDS, n.d.). With small-scale farmers shortening food production chains between producers and consumers, it creates more food sovereignty and food security (ibid). Agroecology is inclusive, as anyone, regardless of  financial position should be able to become an organic farmer, even though agroecology has some core principles (Auerbach, 2020). 

The FAO (2019) has made a list of the 10 elements of agroecology; diversity, sharing knowledge, synergies, efficiency, recycling, resilience, human & social values, culture & food traditions, responsible governance and circular & solidarity economy. These 10 elements are linked together and promote a bottom-up approach. It also increases social and environmental resilience (ibid).

For example, organic farming is more resilient against climate change (Auerbach, 2020), withstudies having shown that the harvest from organic farms is bigger than that of industrial farms during dry years (ibid). Agroecology also gives the farmers that are mostly women autonomy through knowledge and opportunities for self-sufficiency (FAO, 2019).

1.2 The aim of this study

The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge about current agroecological food systems and contribute clarity for working forward by involving youth in agroecological strategies. This study will investigate how local food systems take place in Cape Town and how they integrate the youth into these local food systems. The method is a literature review, interviews, field trips and attending workshops.

1.3 Research questions

  1. How is local agroecology in practice?

  2. How can we integrate youth learning about agroecology and sustainable food systems?

2. Method

The method for this research has been a literature review, field trips, interviews and attending workshops. The literature was chosen to develop an understanding of agroecological principles, policymaking from politicians and solutions for changing the food system at a national level by giving examples of promoting agroecology. The chosen workshop for this study was the Urban Food Future program. This workshop program was specifically for farmers, politicians, NGOs and other stakeholders that are working with agroecology. The workshops provided additional context and information that assisted in defining the scope of the literature review and field visits. The workshop is not reported on here, but a write-up of the workshop is available.

The field visits were to different types of food gardens, combined with interviews. The gardens were Lentegeur Rehabilitation Centre & Neighbourhood Garden, Pelican Park High School with Clifford Ceasar, and Elsies River Community Garden with Geronimo De Klerk. These garden field trips were chosen to understand different kinds of gardens in the urban community and how they involve the youth. 

The interviewing part was in a casual set-up. The questions would arise during the tours of the gardens and be noted in a document. Even though the set-up was casual, there were already some predetermined questions;

●       Agroecology (AE): How does the project see Agroecology? Does the project meet all/most AE principles?

●       Materials: How well-resourced is the project? Does it have fencing, water, tunnels etc?

●       History & vision: Background of the project and how it has developed. How would it like to develop further? What inspires the project?

●       Support: What support does the project receive? What further support is it looking for?

●       Youth: How are youth involved? What role is seen for youth? What support is needed for youth to succeed in the work?

●       Networks: How do the projects link to other projects and networks?

These questions were chosen to get an understanding of the garden, how it operates and how it can or is involving the youth. The questions are touching 6 different areas; agroecology, materials, history & vision, support, child and networks. These 6 areas make an overall picture of understanding.

3. Results

3.1 Literature review

To support agroecology, food needs to be available, accessible and adequate (Black, 2016). In the current food system, small-scale farmers need to compete against big-scale farmers. This can lead to an uneven distribution of the availability of organic food. Organic food can also be more expensive because it is more sustainably produced (Black, 2016).

Even if the government has agreed on international conventions and treaties, there is no real political commitment to achieve these goals according to Witt (2018). An example of a problem is that rural development and agriculture are placed in different ministries/departments. The problem goes further with policies and initiatives failing because of poor coordination between the departments and governments. Even if politicians acknowledge this problem, it is no guarantee for the problem to be fixed. Also, environmental solutions are often seen as a hindrance to development, rather than it being the solution for development (ibid).

 Rural areas are   not prioritized by politicians, which is a big concern (Witt, 2018). More policies for rural development have been implemented since 2009, but improvements on the ground  are not visible . There are a lot of policies in place in South Africa and new policies are made without the old ones being fully implemented. When making a new policy, there should be a follow-up. Not doing so makes it harder to understand if the policy worked and if it should continue, or if it didn’t work and should be amended.

Even though the ANC Conference in 2007 referred to industrial agriculture as “environmentally damaging agriculture”, there were no repercussions (Witt, 2018). There is no goal or vision of shifting industrial agriculture to smaller, sustainable, resistant agriculture. Policies are failing at being precise and having concrete solutions or strategies that can’t be misunderstood. On one hand, the politicians talk about the importance of small-holders but at the same time they want to increase commercial farming. The National Development Plan (NDP): Our future is a national document for development, hwever  it can be argued that the document isn’t up to a good standard. Some inconsistencies make one believe that the ruling party only wants to try and satisfy all the different interests instead of having a clearer goal/vision. A critique is that agriculture shouldn’t only be seen as a business but as a social and health issue. Poor people should be able to buy healthy nutritious food (Witt, 2018).

Brazil has examples of agroecology in practice and policy (Black, 2016). Agroecology farmers have been mobilising during and after the dictatorship ended in the 1980s (ibid). Small-scale farmers worked together with the labour movement and the unions for policy and agrarian reforms. As a political initiative, the local government of Rio Grande do Sul supports agroecological production by buying small-scale farmers' food at a higher price for schools, welfare programmes and canteens (Black, 2016). In 2009, a law required that the government's food purchases at least must be 30% from small-holders. Then in 2011, they added a provision to increase the price of organic products by 30% (ibid).

A Family Agriculture Food Programme (PPA) is a governmental feeding program, that buys food from family farmers for local food banks, this programme creates a stable market for small-scale farmers (Black 2016). Another programme in Brazil is the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE) which provides free school lunches for all the kids in Brazil. Free school lunches have contributed to food security and 30% of the meals must be bought from local family farmers.

The value chain between farmers and consumers is also relatively closer, because of the local markets (Black, 2016). They also promote organic and agroecological production in Rede Ecovida by having their own certification system instead of a third-party system. Farmers have to agree together about the organic standard in a participatory guarantee system (PGS). These political initiatives have just not only stimulated the market for agroecological products but also makes it possible for farmers to meet the demand (ibid).

South Africa has its feeding program for schools, the National School Nutrition Programme. The annual report is only from 2009 - 2014, and then the annual reporting of the program stopped. The programme's purpose is to provide free school meals for the most needed schools in South Africa (NSNP, 2014). The programme decreases food insecurity, provides job opportunities, teaches children about healthy nutritious diets and supports food gardens. The programme is providing educational support and resources for schools to start a school garden. 9 131 836 children were fed through this program in 2013/2014, that´s around 59% of children between 5-19 years old (NSNP, 2014; Globalis, 2021). This programme is a good way to reduce hunger and provide education about gardening and nutritious foods.

3.2 Field trips and interviews

Lentegeur rehabilitation centre & neighbourhood garden

We first visited the Lentegeur Rehabilitation Centre, as there is supposed to be an open market there every Friday morning, but it didn’t take place on the day we visited. Psychiatric patients are rehabilitated through growing crops and working in the garden. We were told that the main consumers of the produce are the hospital employees that buy the food. When asked if the garden involves the youth, they said that they have had interns that were unemployed youths, but not anymore because of attitude problems. It is good that the youth are get involved, but such processes need to be well thought through, with a plan to involve them positively. 

It seemed unclear when and where the open market would take place. It can be hard for farmers to access the selling of crops and such  markets can increase the sales profits and provide consumers with organic food. But if there is no direct clarity about when and where the market is for the consumer, it can be hard to keep consumers. Here it seems to be the hospital workers that are the main consumers and the main purpose of the garden seems to also be for the patient's rehabilitation. Some reflections would be interesting to follow up on. Except for selling the food, is there a chance of giving food to feeding schemes, food hubs or community kitchens? How can this garden become a bigger part of increasing food security?

The second visit was to the Neighbourhood Garden in Fish Hoek, which is a non-profit organisation (NPO). They want to fix the broken food system with local ecological food production. The land that they use is also on a hospital ground and they have fences around to minimise theft. Both of the gardens have agroecology principles, they use compost, no chemical use, crop covering, crop diversity, crop rotation and organic pesticides. They have a drip irrigation system  and water tanks. They sell food to the local community, the hospital and has a  little grocery shop beside the park. The garden arranges visits for school children where they learn how to grow vegetables. There was also a young woman who had an indigenous nursery beside the park. She has free rental for the nursery  as she helps out with the garden.

Comparing to  Lentegeur Rehabilitation Centre, the Neighbourhood Garden has more stable access to the market through having its own vegetable shop. They have become their own producer and vendor. Even though the organisation is non-profit, the profit goes back to the garden and not to big vendors who support commercial farming. Further questions to follow up would be to see if gives  food to feeding schemes, food hubs or community kitchens?

Commercial farming can be seen as negative because it takes away money from the farmer, but sometimes a 'middleman’ is necessary. A 'middleman’ takes money but the farmers don't have to think about the market. Also, consumers might be more likely  to buy from a bigger market with a variety of goods, rather than a small grocery store. But there must be more focus on how we change the market, and how we can implement more ecological, local and sustainable food in the market. Either the politicians must regulate the market or the consumer must change their consumption patterns.

Changing consumer consumption patterns can be really hard. It can be changed through education, campaigning and regulation. Having gardens like this to teach young children about sustainable gardening, is a step toward transforming the food sector. The children learn how to grow food, learn about food systems and learn about farming as a job. This in return can encourage the to buy local organic food or become organic farmers themself.

Pelican Park High School

Pelican Park High School has a school garden for the youth and a farming (Agiculture) program. They have two courses about agricultural knowledge including management and agricultural technologies. Right now there are 4 classes, 120 students from grade 8 and upwards. Learners over 14  from other areas can can apply to come to the school if they have a specific interest in agriculture . Some of the students have parents that are farmers with access to land. But the students need to have a strong will to want to work in agriculture if they want to succeed in the future.

Clifford Caeser is the programme leader with an agricultural background and is one of three teachers in the program. He checks the school garden every day and is devoted educating others. He states that it is vital to teach  children about agroecology.  Students can study this program for 4 years and afterwards study a final year in college. This programme gives the students both a practical and theoretical understanding of agriculture. They also rotate the chores among the students, so every student learns different aspects of the work.

This pilot project is funded by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and Education. The program is national but at the moment only operational in the Western Cape. One of the reasons to start the program is because of the lack of young farmers. Any school can have a school garden, but to be able to have the farming programme, the school needs to fulfill certain criteria. The pass rate and the distinctions must be at a certain level before they can apply to the agriculture department. One of the challenges for the schools is that the teachers don't always have enough knowledge about agriculture. As this is a pilot project, the department wants to know the outcome of the program. Clifford also says that he has a good relationship with the people in power, they know him because of his work within the community.

They cultivate different crops such as basil, legumes (beans), coriander, onions, carrot, lettuce, maize, chilli, pepper, tomatoes, cabbage and salad. With a schedule to follow, they can plan more easilywhen they need to plant different crops. In the future, Clifford wants a fruit forest with different fruit trees. Apart for the diversity of different crops, they have also implemented some other agroecology principles to intercrop, rotate crops and integrate animals. They do this to create more fertile soil and prevent pests. They make their own fertilizers, but because of the new tunnels, they have bought some fertilizer.

But will be reducing the bought fertilizer with their own made. It is essential to make the soil nutritious. In 2023, they aim to  integrate animals into the farm. They will have chickens and sheep, giving them manure and eggs. Tunnels have also been  installed with a water tank. The tunnel will help them farm in a more controlled environment, it will be warmer, with less wind and more water efficient. But the start of using the tunnels had been delayed because outsiders were stealing pipes for their water tank.

Clifford said he doesn´t see challenges, only solutions. But one negative aspect is the ‘vandalism’, outsiders come and steal the school's property. This can create a feeling of us against them. Therefore it is crucial to create a community feeling, said Clifford. By building community projects, collaborating with other schools and having feeding programmes. The food from the schools becomes part of the local community. Clifford is part of other community projects and helps other schools, kitchens and churches to start their gardens.   In his spare time and for free, he gives lectures and provides support for others to open up community gardens. He has even had a presentation for the Department of Agriculture to present their work at Pelican High School.

Six different community kitchens sometimes get food from the school garden. The students sometimes have to give plants from the school garden to their neighbour, just so the neighbour can understand how to grow their food and share knowledge. These different initiatives from Clifford and the school garden can be argued to decrease food insecurity and help create a more sustainable food system that has a circular food ecosystem.

The school also sometimes has an open market for the local community. When people want to buy food, Clifford makes them harvest the food from the ground. They create good relationships with the community, so they want to buy more food and stop vandalism. The school kids also learn how to make processed food, for example, they make pesto out of basil. Processed food can last longer and the return value is greater. The teachers at the school buy the food and all of the profit goes back to this project.

The first reflection of this pilot project is that it is a good political initiative. School gardens can educate children about sustainable food systems and growing organic food. This program gives the students a broad understanding of both practical and theoretical knowledge. A second reflection is that because the project is funded by the state, it isn’t dependent on making a profit. Therefore, the food can be given to others in the community. This giveaway of food to especially community kitchens is a way to boost the food security of healthy food. Follow-ups on this school garden should be made by the state and then expand the program to other schools in the city.

Elsies River Community Food Garden

Two brothers Valentino and Geronimo De Klerk started a community garden with the motivation of changing their community in Elsies River. Gangsters once controlled the ground where the garden is today. The lack of food, jobs, education and hope for the future made gangsterism flourish. But the youth in the community wanted a change, so they gathered a petition for starting the community garden and removing the gangsters from their community. In the beginning, it was hard with the gangster not wanting to move. But the community saw the positive effect the garden had and eventually the gangster removed themself. The municipality only helped build one of the walls for the garden. But the project has minimal funding through donations, voluntary work or funds from their partners; Feeding the Future, African Climate Alliance, The Liesbeeck Action Campaign and Zlro.

The idea of the garden at the beginning was that all the food should go back into the community. But to manage to maintain the garden, they will need to sell 50% of their production. So this year 2023 will be the first year for them to enter the market. At the moment, the garden is supporting 13 feeding schemes and has expanded into 25 different food gardens. School gardens are supported by the government's feeding schemes, the gardens give food to the children. Geronimo is teaching and helping children with growing crops and about sustainable food systems. The children are  6-15 years old and Geronimo stated that it is important that they learn. He referenced that he wasn´t taught in school how to grow food or about sustainability.

They are teaching people how to grow organic, for example by using composting with bought manure. They use water tanks for the plants, which has worked for them. The first harvest of 2023 was really good. They teach youngsters at their site. But because they have just built a high wall where their classroom is, they need to attach a roof so they can get some shade for the pupils. That is one of the current challenges they are facing. The other challenge is transportation, the lack of transportation makes a lot of things more difficult, such as transporting people and things. Overall, this community garden has had a positive effect. The youth choosing not to be involved in gangsterism and they have not had any shootings for 2 and a half years. They have volunteers and sometimes they pay the youth R25 an hour for work. That gives the youth a sense of community feeling and a small amount of money.

Some reflection about this initiative is that it has contributed to positive changes. This initiative from the youth themself shows the willingness of changing the community from within. But it should be able to continue its work with help from politicians and the state. Here is a great opportunity for politicians to recognise the importance of community gardens and how they can support food security with help from the youth in communities like Elise River. Even though this garden project has expanded and has funders. It still should be recognised by the politicians and there should be political initiatives to keep these small community gardens. Young people should be able to start community gardens to produce food for community kitchens or feeding schemes, this should be supported politically.

4. Conclusion

Based on the results above the conclusion is that there must be a broad approach to changing the current food system and involving the youth. As mentioned before, the current food system is failing at being sustainable, as we have had major environmental losses. Also, social sustainability is failing, because the current food system is supports commercial farming at the moment and fails to supporting ecological small-scale farming. Because the politics at the moment support big-scale farming, society is missing out on the circular economy from the local small-scale farmers. For us to change the food system, we need a bottom-up and top-down approach.

Bottom-up approach

A bottom-up approach is essential, because society needs to change its cultural norms. Cultural norms are hard to change but must change through education and regulation within society. Educating the youth is important to create a change in cultural norms. So the youth know that locally-produced food is better for the circular economy, ecological sustainability and social sustainability. If youth learn how to grow food, they can produce healthy food. With knowledge, the youth can make conscious decisions about the food they eat and therefore change the system within.

School food gardens are a way to educate and promote sustainable food systems. Individual community gardens that involve youth also have an important role in educating the young. The fact that the Pelican Park High School garden and the Elsies River Community Food Garden donate vegetables to community kitchens is a way to create food security. Food security and healthy food increase social sustainability.

The Elsies River Community Food Garden is a great example of how a garden can help the community. The food they are growing goes back to the community. The youth can choose to grow food instead of becoming criminals. After the garden started, they haven’t had shootings in over 2 years. That is an example of how social sustainability has increased within society. They are not only educating the young but also transforming the community into a safer area. These initiatives should be supported by the government.

The gardens on hospital grounds are also a way to support agroecological gardening. They are also part of educating the youth and the locals. Both of the hospital gardens we visited had markets, and these local markets created economic growth. Because of the circular economy, the money stays within the society instead of it becomes profit for international big companies. In conclusion, local agroecological gardens create community feeling, food security, healthy food, a circular economy and biological diversity. But educating youth and farming agroecological must be supported and recognised by the decision-makers.

Top-down approach

I argue that a top-down approach with politicians' power is also needed to change the system. With the listed benefits of local agroecological gardens, politicians should recognise the importance of changing the current food system. With political initiatives, these gardens can have the right circumstances to thrive. Policies can be implemented but they must work in practice and have follow-ups.

The pilot project at the Pelican Park High School is a program that is promoting education and a food garden. This programme could be expanded from just the Western Cape into other regions. But also the feeding programmes by the government in South Africa has a vital role in increasing food security. Not only does the feeding programme secure food for school children, but it also promotes school gardens. Not having available annual reports about the NSNP is not democratically transparent. There must be transparent follow-ups for the sake of research and democratic values. This programme is nonetheless a good start that now needs expanding. All children from primary to high school should eat for free. This program should include all children and all schools in South Africa.

Policies from the Brazil’s government have stimulated small-scale farmers' growth. The national feeding program PNAE gives all school students free food. PNAE combined with the law that forces the government to buy 30% of all food purchases from small-scale farmers. This has created a structured demand from the government to benefit the local farmers. The local markets have decreased the value chain and therefore can circular economy thrives. That means that the economic growth in these communities can stay within the community. South African school feeding programme NSNP could implement the same strategy, to only buy food produced by local small-scale farmers.

The top-down and down-up approaches need to meet each other in the middle, and that can be easier said than done. This is where for example NGOs have a big impact. They can promote ideas from farmers and be the voice that impacts the politicians. NGOs can also be the educating force within society. NGOs can be part of changing cultural norms through campaigning for a sustainable food system.

To conclude some concrete actions forward;

●       Education

-          We need to inform the public about the food system and how we can change it. The youth needs to be educated, then they can also spread the message. There must be a knowledge exchange about why local, ecologically produced food is healthier and more sustainable.

-          Support schools that want to start a school garden, so  children can learn about growing and selling food in the food market. Contact with Environmental Clubs can be a way to introduce the idea of school gardens at their schools.

-          School Environmental Clubs can do field trips to local markets or local gardens or maybe visit Pelican Park High School. EMG can also educate the Environmental  Clubs about sustainable food systems.

-          Invite Clifford Ceasar to the Environmental Clubs schools to talk about school gardens and organic gardening or invite eco clubs to Pelican Park High School.

-           Give teachers that want to start school gardens an opportunity to learn about organic gardening through workshops.

●       Campaigning

-          Through campaigning  NGOs, such as EMG can spread knowledge. Through social media, but also talking with the broad public who is not part of the agroecological sphere. A good campaign is often something concrete, a specific change that makes it easier to advocate.

-          Create connections with politicians that can influence other politicians.

-          Promote and spread knowledge about the existing community gardens and food gardens to politicians. Make politicians recognise the importance of these gardens during workshops or meetings.

-          Promote existing local food markets with EMG's social media or campaign about them. Promote school gardens market.

-          Promote a national government program that makes free school meals for all the kids in South Africa

-          Promote a law that requires 30% of the state's food purchases must come from small-scale holders.

-          Promote that governmental feeding programmes must purchase food products from small-scale farmers.

 

Further research

For further research, this study could continue to review other programmes or policies that is supporting agroecological farming and involve the youth in South Africa or other countries. This study could also be broadened with more field trips and a more extensive literature review. This research might contribute to a smaller case study by just focusing on one community garden or school garden. There can be follow-up research on food hubs and community kitchens that are connected with these urban gardens in this study. Hopefully, this study can be suitable in promoting the importance of changing the food system by involving the youth.

5. Bibliography

  • AFSA & APCNF, Taking agroecology to scale, (2022)

  • Gollin, D., Hansen, C.W. and Wingender, A.M. (2021) Two Blades of Grass: The Impact of the Green Revolution, The Journal of political economy, 129(8), pp. 2344–2384.

  • Black, V. (2016), Agroecology; Environmental, social and economic justice, Biowatch.

  • Adelle, C. et al. (2021) Fostering communities of practice for improved food democracy: Experiences and learning from South Africa, Urban agriculture & regional food systems, 6(1), p. n/a.

  • Witt, H., (2018), Policy Impacts: The impact of government agricultural and rural development policy on small-holder farmers in KwaZuli-Natal, Biowatch.

 5.1 Electronic