Sustainable urban farming in Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract

Food insecurity remains a major issue for many of the developing countries in the world including south Africa. This is evidenced by the number of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that focus on improving global food security. Johannesburg has seen a large influx of people from rural areas who flood to the city in search of work and other opportunities to improve their quality of life. Growing population numbers in the city have put the food system, and more specifically food security, under increased pressure. Johannesburg is highly urbanised with most of the land used for industrial and human settlement developments. With an increasing need to grow food close to where people live and work it is becoming very important for the development of alternative farming methods for the urban context. Public and private entities have made efforts to establish urban farming initiatives in the city. However, many of these initiatives fail to deliver the desired outcomes because they do not take into consideration the complexities involved with setting up initiatives to address food insecurity. This study was conducted with the aim of developing a sustainable social entrepreneurship model for the establishment of urban farming initiatives in Johannesburg. A review of relevant literature and thereafter conducting interviews with subject matter experts several strategic and operational challenges to ensure the successful implementation of these initiatives were investigated. The findings highlighted several key challenges which limited and hampered the ability of urban smallholder farmers to ensure the financial viability and sustainability of their farming initiatives. The results confirmed many of the conclusions of the literature studied. The main identified factors were; limited accessibility to farming land, markets, funding and most importantly knowledge and information regarding setting up and effectively and efficiently managing small agri-businesses. One of the outcomes of this study is a proposed social entrepreneurship model that defines an alternative way of thinking about social initiatives. The focus is both on the social impact and the profitability of the business activities. Further work needs to be done to develop an enabling environment for these initiatives to flourish. This study is one of several which will trigger a much-needed shift in thinking and approach to urban agriculture to effectively benefit and transform society.