Food production – the bedrock of a community

Ha-Lambani – When Mathoho Mashudu’s father gave her an eight-hectare piece of land in 1998, she knew she had to use it to help the impoverished community in her hometown of Ha-Lambani village in Limpopo province. For over 20 years, the 45-year-old Mathoho and five volunteers have been working hard on the Musamali community project. Now, with Shoprite’s help, they will expand their food garden to sell produce like potatoes, cabbage, maize, onions, and chillies.

Shoprite provided fencing for one hectare of the garden together with tools, a 10,000-litre water tank, a petrol pump, compost mulch, seedlings, seeds, fruit trees, educational material, and ongoing training.

The Shoprite Group has supported food production since 2015 by partnering with 119 community and 494 home gardens to the benefit of over 27,000 people. This is in line with a long-term food security strategy. In addition, Shoprite and Checkers supermarkets’ surplus food donations bring hunger relief to communities which since the start of lockdown has exceeded R57 million.

Shoprite press release extracts, 4 November 2020