The performance and support of food gardens in some townships of the Cape Metropolitan Area: An evaluation of Abalimi Bezekhaya

Drawing on an evaluation of the gardening promotion activities of Abalimi Bezekhaya, a gardening organisation operating in the townships of the Cape Metropolitan Area, this article puts forward recommendations and policy directives for the development of urban agricultural initiatives. Field research, undertaken with gardeners in the townships, utilised participatory methodologies to elicit their opinions and gain insight into their motivations for gardening, the various constraints they face, and their opinion of the services provided by Abalimi Bezekhaya. From these exercises, recommendations were made to the organisation on how it could improve its services to the communities. In addition, the evaluation revealed that urban agriculture offers gardeners an opportunity to become involved in a development strategy which holds tremendous potential and which can expand into an entrepreneurial activity, if due attention is paid to issues of policy, agricultural development, land reform and the creation of livelihoods.