By Lee-Yandra Paulsen

The Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE) and the Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA) are advocating for government support for a “one woman, one-hectare” programme aimed at assisting rural women, who bear the brunt of hunger in their communities.

In an interview with VOC Drive Time on Wednesday, the Rural Women’s Assembly’s (RWA) Elsie Sauls shed light on the challenges faced by rural women in accessing land.

“We are struggling as rural women still for land, we had to use gorilla gardens because we can’t wait on government any longer,” said Sauls. She emphasized the urgency of the situation, mentioning that they had to resort to creating “gorilla gardens” out of necessity.

Explaining the concept, Sauls described gorilla gardening as utilising vacant land without official permission for agricultural purposes. “It is outside land like commercial land,” she elaborated.

Despite their efforts, Sauls lamented the lack of support from municipalities and politicians. “There has been no response or help from the municipalities or politicians,” she expressed.

Sauls also highlighted the support they receive from external organizations in sustaining gorilla gardens. “People who are helping with the gorilla gardens are organizations from outside areas, who come in and see what they can help us with such as seedlings, seeds, and plants,” she remarked.

The initiative underscores the pressing need for tangible solutions to address food insecurity, particularly among rural women. “We are starving in South Africa, and we need to put food on the table, so we needed to start somewhere,” Sauls emphasized, reflecting the urgent call for action.

VOC News

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