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Children and staff from Sparrow Village in Maraisburg and Unisa CAES staff and partners celebrated World Food Day together.

World Food Day creates awareness for people who are experiencing poverty and food scarcity. In addition, it serves as a platform to share strategies on ways to alleviate lack of food and malnutrition in communities, thereby ensuring food security and nutritious diets for all.

CAES joined the celebration on 20 October 2017 as part of its community engagement activities. The event was held at Sparrow Village in Roodepoort, which is an orphanage home and hospice that provides care and well-being to adults and children infected or affected by the HIV/AIDS illnesses. The department has been involved in projects such as these since 2010.

The theme for the 2017 World Food Day was Change the future of migration and invest in food security and rural development. The guest speaker, Rodney Mudzuli, Manager of the Urban Agriculture Food Resilience Unit from the Social Development Department, City of Joburg, spoke about the gap between rich and poor and malnutrition as the main challenges South Africa is facing today. To combat these, he listed support programmes from the government and private sectors used for infrastructure establishment and to connect networks with local producers, offer training and mentorship, facilitate community programmes in partnership with various stakeholders, and market products. “One household, one garden,” was the slogan emphasised by the guest speaker.

The event was successful and well attended. At the core were Unisa CAES Management, Deputy Executive Dean, Professor David Modise; the Director of the School of Agriculture and Life Science, Professor Solomon Magano, and chairs of departments Professor Fhatuwani Mudau and Professor Sogolo Lebelo. Additionally, in attendance were Dr Genevieve James, Marée Mondriaan, and Chevaan Peters from Unisa’s Division of Community Engagement and Outreach (DCEO) and numerous other staff members. The Founder and Director of Sparrow Village, Reverend Corine McClintock and Sparrow CEO Roslynn Greeff also graced the event. One of the biggest franchises in South Africa, KFC, supported and distributed food parcels to everyone who attended the event.

“Unisa strives to hold event of this magnitudes annually to alleviate poverty and ensure food security among the underprivileged communities in South Africa.”

*Submitted by Nosihle Mbombo

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Publish date: 2017-11-01 00:00:00.0

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