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The Peace Diaries Radio Program was broadcast during the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa from August 26 through September 4, 2002. It was broadcast to Africa, Middle East and Europe. |
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SHOW 2: AGRICULTURE & FOOD GARDENS |
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SCRIPT, SHOW 2 00:01 – 00:59 SHOW OPEN, KIDS’ QUOTES, Quote from Food Gardens volunteer, Betty Hanratty 00:51 – 00:57 (Quote, Betty Hanratty, volunteer Food Gardens Foundation, South Africa (SA)) The war has stopped in this area because of the food gardens, it's brought peace. 01:00 – 01:41 (Narrated introduction, Tessa van Staden) With drought threatening large parts of Southern Africa, starvation and malnutrition are terrible realities that families, communities and governments have to address. The battle to feed the hungry is as old as history itself, but it's not all bad news. The United Nations' Development Program reports that malnutrition rates have been reduced almost a third since the 1960s.The local food garden is one example how communities have successfully provided families with food, skills and even an added income. Pat Featherstone, Western Cape Director of the Food Gardens Foundation in South Africa, explains how it works… 01:42 - 02:06 (Pat Featherstone, Food Gardens Foundation, SA) The foundation teaches people to grow organic vegetables on a small scale. Maximum production and minimum space; using everything you've got. We encourage people not to buy. They use waste for the shade knitting, they use waste for protecting the plants, for putting in the soil, for feeding the soil. 02:07 - 02:23 (Featherstone continued) And, of course in South Africa, which is an arid country, water is limited so we teach people to use very little water. Our method is actually is a water-wise way of gardening. So it’s small scale, organic vegetable production, aimed primarily at household food security. 02:24 - 02:34 (Narr, TvS) Per Andersen, an agricultural economist with the Food Policy Research Institute, says the impact of these small gardens far exceed their physical size… 02:35 - 02:54 (Per Andersen, agric. economist with FPRI) I think they (food gardens) can have a tremendous impact in terms of kind of serving as safety nets. Obviously a lot of the food that is being produced in Africa today is being produced from these small lots. 02:55 – 03:28 (Andersen continued) But, of equal importance is the fact that whenever the markets result in lower prices, or whenever there are some other disruptions in the economy, these small plots can be extremely useful in providing some buffer to low-income households. I think there is a lot more that can be done...to make them more productive and less risky still… as well. 03:29 – 03:44 (Andersen continued) So, I think one of the things we need to do is to make available improved seed varieties and improved production systems for those small plots, for the family plots, and the community gardens. 03:44 – 03:52 (Narr, TvS) Ecological phenomenologist, Tamra Raven, says these miniature farms are successful because they are irrigated and tended locally… 03:53 – 04:28 (Tamra Raven, Ecological Scientist, ICW, OTS) Local food security is important because it cuts down on transportation costs, it puts the ownership of economic plants and seeds, and the control of water rights at the local level, where people are, where there’s a closer relationship between, you know, local government – the local people who run a small community – and the people. 04:29 – 04:50 (Narr, TvS) The food gardens are sometimes also called ‘door farms’, because the plot the size of four door-sized beds, about 20 squared meters, can keep a family in supply of fresh vegetables for at least a year. Western Cape program coordinator of the Food Gardens Foundation, Pat Featherstone, describes why this way of farming is cost-effective… 04:50 - 05:05 (Featherstone) Our methodology is basically based at improving the soil. We do it by digging a hole in the ground and filling the hole with organic materials, which is going to decompose, so you’re putting the soil back and then planting on top of a compost heap, as’t were… 05:06 – 05:24 (Featherstone continued) But then, of course, that works differently in sand and it works differently in clay. It works differently in a dry climate and a wet climate. So, you make modifications based on your soil type and climate. But basically, that is our methodology – digging a hole, filling it with rubbish & covering it over. 05:25 – 05:33 (Narr, TvS) Ecological phenomenologist, Tamra Raven, agrees that small-scale farmers can only be helped if local vegetation is managed properly… 05:34 – 06:06 (Raven) What we can do is manage local vegetation. We can get plant- or vegetation cover of the native plant species back on the ground. We need to encourage bi-regional seed trading of the local plants. We need to protect vegetation. We ought to have zero tolerance for losing any more plants. We predict that 34,000 species lost... in the short run. 06:07 - 06:14 (Narr, TvS) Raven ads that responsible farming and responsible harvesting begins with ecological restoration… 06:15 – 07:12 (Raven continued) When we do ecological restoration the first thing is we need to get a cover on the soil. Any plant on the soil is better than no plant on the soil, because rain is a highly erosive force. So we need to get a cover on the soil, and then the next season you might find that there is another kind of plant coming up...and that means more than one species, and that's good. Maybe the next season you get another plant and now you've got three different species covering the soil... maybe one of them attracts another species... like a butterfly or a moth or a little mammal... maybe you favor that kind of plant and have a little protein source. 07:13 - 07:22 (Narr, TvS) Betty Hanratty, a volunteer with the Food Gardens Foundation for decades, recalls how the humble potato changed the life of an entire community, outside Cape Town… 07:23 – 07:42 (Betty Hanratty) After some time we got a very flourishing garden going & one day I was sitting with the women on the damp soil, talking to them about their garden and what it had done for them, and they said to me, you know, a funny thing… The war has stopped in this community because of the food gardening. It’s brought peace. 08:06 – 08:23 (Betty Hanratty continued) I taught them to grow potatoes in a bag, and they wouldn't believe me and we really battled to get this going. One day I went and said, "C'mon girls, the potatoes are ready... they ripped the bag open and out spilled these huge potatoes ... they all grabbed the potatoes and rushed home to cook eat them there…" 08:24 – 08:30 (Narrated Outro, TvS) That was Betty Hanratty, a volunteer with South Africa’s Food Gardens Foundation. 08:30 – 09:13 (SHOW CLOSE, FUNDING, DEDICATION & PEACE DIARIES WEBSITE MENTION)  |
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