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Food Gardens Policy

Cape Town, South Africa

Thematic area

Availability, Accessibility, Convenience, Desirability, Norms and Preferences, Social Capital

Policy scope

Local, Regional

Target audience

Citizens/Consumers

Status

Ongoing

Aim and method

Cape Town suffers from inequality and high rates of poverty manifesting in lack of access to basic amenities such as food. Poverty is both a cause and result of marginalisation. Food insecurity is tightly linked to poverty and hinders the development of children. The policy strives to: • promote a common vision for urban agriculture in the City of Cape Town; • enhance an institutional framework that can facilitate the diversification and up scaling of urban agriculture in the City; • expand the urban agricultural support program of the City; • guide the compilation of a multi-year comprehensive development agenda for urban agriculture in the City; • to elevate the importance of urban agriculture so that it can compete equally with other priorities for improved resource allocation.

Background

The rampant food insecurity connected to high levels of poverty necessitated the policy. Developed in collaboration between the Western Cape Region, the local government, four universities; Stellenbosch (US), Cape Town UCT), Western Cape (UWC) and Peninsula (CPUT) as well as four NGOs; Abalimi Bazekhaye, Soil for life, Urban Harvest and Keep the Dream;

Monitoring and ownership

- Local government work in and with local communities. - Provincial government assist the local government with the different projects and assist with Finance; - Universities assist with research on project, supply interns on project and assist with policies and strategies. - NGOs assist the local government in the communities. - Communities are in partnership with local government to assist with the social and economic issues from the communities..

Implementation and Results

Measurable improved food security and nutrition, poverty alleviation when less money is spent on groceries, community building.