THE EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR THE ENTRIES INCLUDE:

a. Good gardening practices (sustainable use of resources).

b. Variety of vegetables and other edible crops produced in the garden to strengthen household food diversity.

c. Water and soil conservation (use of recycled water for food production).

d. Innovation.

The winners received trophies, certificates, vouchers and gift packs from the Department. The vouchers were for the purchasing of agricultural items needed and the gift packs included a 10kg bag of compost, a 10kg bag of fertiliser and a box with different seeds packs.

The prize vouchers handed out in each district were as follows:

COMMUNITY/SCHOOL FOOD GARDEN CATEGORY

Winner – R6 000

1st runner-up – R4 000

2nd runner-up – R3 000

Household Food Garden Category

Winner – R3 000

1st runner-up – R2 000

2nd runner-up – R1 500

The Overberg Food Garden Competition award ceremony was a Ministerial event and it combined with the launch of the AgriProcessing on Wheels initiative, which is another innovation by the WCDoA. On this day the best youth and runner-up gardeners were also recognised for their dedication and each received a voucher to the value of R500 together with their certificates.

Acknowledgements

Congratulations to all the winners and runners-up! We would like to thank all stakeholders who collaborated with the WCDoA to make the food garden competition a huge success. These include partners such as Jala Peo, NGO in the North West Coast, AgriMark for vouchers, Casidra for project management, our APSD food security soldiers on the ground, and all involved in the evaluation, selection and celebration of the winners. We look forward to honouring more food garden champions on an annual basis. AP

For more information, contact Dr Hlamalani Ngwenya: or Vusumzi Zwelendaba: