Thursday 4 September 2014

Soweto Imvelo Market

Fresh start for the Soweto Imvelo Market farmers
Organic crops grown by the farmers

Story by Era Baloyi, UJ PR student

This month the Naledi open area in Soweto, near the Police Station hosted the Soweto Imvelo Market.
The Imvelo Market is a community forum that encourages local farmers to grow their own organic produce in order to sustain a living, create an income and employment. The market was developed through the help of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) Enactus student volunteers from the Centre for Small Business Development (CSBD) based on UJ’s Soweto Campus.  People came in their numbers to support the market, with its fresh and healthy produce. Enactus is an international non-profit organization that brings together students, academics/academia and business leaders who are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to enable progress around the world.
First years CSBD UJ students helped the Soweto Imvelo Market with the marketing of the event, making sure that the right messages reached the targeted public, letting the  residents of Naledi know about the importance of farming and also encouraging them to start their own small farming ventures. Other support provided included advertising, project promotion to stakeholders, consumer education, entertainment, organizing the project, security and safety measures, administration, public and media relations as well as transport and logistics.

Farmer and salesperson from Emdeni Skills Development, Muzikayise Kheswa announced that “Emdeni Skills Development is a home where we support people with skills and knowledge in order to start them growing their own organic produce.” Most people in townships do not understand the importance of agriculture and that it offers so many opportunities. Agriculture helps sustain food security since food insecurity is one of the major issues especially in densely populated areas: no one wants to go hungry or see a loved one without food on his or her table. Millions of people go to bed every day with empty stomachs. If people could start their own gardens they can help prevent or at least lessen this issue.  Farming also provides jobs, which will help disadvantage families. “I chose agriculture because it deals with food and we need to balance our diet in order to have energy” said Muzikayise Kheswa.

Region D Farmers’ Forum members, Nyaniso Mashabane and Sakhile Skhosana pointed out that their forum was creating jobs for local communities and people will no longer have to travel long distances to get fresh food or go to work. Their vision is to stimulate agricultural economy in order to bring an income to the region. The forum also equips people with skills that they need to cope whenever challenges such as floods or droughts arise so that they can use the skills and knowledge acquired from the forum to resolve the problem.
“We need to move away from subsistence farming to commercial farming.  Even if you farm on a small scale you could do something about it and generate an income,” Nyaniso Mashabane added. “Soweto Imvelo Market is trying to educate youth about the production of crops and entrepreneurship so that when you combine the two together, you will be able to see change and it will also boost the Soweto economy,” Sakhile Skhosana added. Right now the forum is trying to capacitate the farmers to be able to have an input in farming so that there may be more affordable food available. This will also create jobs for people who have trucks (bakkies) so that they can transport the produce from the farms to the market every day.

Nyaniso Mashabane said that people have not yet seen the potential that comes with agriculture: “Soweto Imvelo Market will transform into a big market one day. This is only the beginning for the Soweto farmers and they are also thinking of bringing livestock as the market grows to stimulate interest to people who haven’t started farming yet.”


A success story that will be watched with much interest. It is spring now – and the ideal time for new beginnings.  “Plant a garden today, and feed your family with the income generated from the fruit and vegetables grown tomorrow.”