Agriculture

Hydroponic farms on rooftops are growing.

The Urban Agriculture Initiative is a project of Wouldn’t It Be Cool (WIBC) and the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership.

The project aims to establish an urban agricultural value chain in the inner-city with hydroponic farms on rooftops as the key element. WIBC piloted the concept with a young entrepreneur from Kagiso and implemented the first commercial farm in the project in 2017. Grant funding from Seda saw another 100 farms established. In Melville, Zakir Kathrada is growing rocket, baby spinach, gem lettuce and tomatoes on the roof of The Whippet Coffee, to whom he sells the produce. Urban farmer Puseletso Mamogale is shown in the picture on this page.

The Fresh Produce Market in Johannesburg is South Africa’s biggest market. The region’s other metropolitan areas, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, also have busy markets. The Springs Fresh Produce Market accounts for 3% of South African market share.

Gauteng’s agricultural sector is focussed on producing vegetables. There is commercial farming in the southern sector of the province (part of South Africa’s maize triangle) and the farming of cotton, groundnuts and sorghum is undertaken in areas near Bronkhorstspruit (east) and Heidelberg (in the south).

The province is home to some of South Africa’s biggest agricultural companies, including AFGRI. Africa’s largest feedlot for cattle is located in Heidelberg: Karan Beef’s facility can accommodate 120 000 cattle. The feedmill processes 1 400 tons per day and the associated abattoir in Balfour in neighbouring Mpumalanga sometimes deals with 1 800 head of cattle per day.

The Kanhym Agrimill in Vereeniging is one of three in the company’s portfolio, which collectively processes 250 000 tons of animal feed annually. Kanhym Estates is the largest producer of pigs in the country. There are many poultry farm and production facilities in Gauteng. Companies include Astral Foods, RCL Foods and Daybreak Farms.

The Gauteng Industrial Development Zone (GIDZ) located at OR Tambo International Airport has an agro-processing plant which is intended to encourage the export of high-value goods.

The Provincial Government of Gauteng has set up Action Labs to focus on agriculture and agro-processing with a focus on land tenure issues and improving food security. If food producers can be linked to

Agricultural Research Council: www.arc.agric.za

South African Poultry Association: www.sapoultry.co.za

WIBC: http://wibc-w-live.azurewebsites.net/

the value chain then township economies can benefit.

In almost every aspect of the spatial planning being carried out by the Gauteng Provincial Government, agriculture and agro-processing are key components, either of Special Economic Zones (SEZ), industrial parks or agri-parks.

Tongaat Hulett, best known as a sugar producer, has sold its starch business (with three milling plants in southern Gauteng) for R5.3-billion to the KLL Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barloworld Logistics Africa. ■