
The food situation in South Africa’s rural townships is precarious. During the corona pandemic, this was exacerbated as if under a magnifying glass. The Ndlovu Care Group took decisive action to combat this by setting up food gardens for families in the catchment area. The food gardens are the new solution that the Ndlovu Care Group is relying on to provide better access to healthy food for more than 10,000 people. They can now provide themselves with fresh vegetables from their own gardens thanks to the support of the Hugo Tempelman Foundation and the RTL “Wir helfen Kindern” foundation.
But one major problem remains: the temporary water shortage in this region. The gardens next to the families’ houses must of course be supplied with water so that they produce a yield. Here too, the Ndlovu Care Group came up with an innovative solution in the form of water wheelbarrows.
These easy-to-transport water tanks are a huge relief when it comes to watering the gardens. The Ndlovu Care Group has already installed more than 55 boreholes in the area. The drinking water facilities are freely accessible with several taps and can be used free of charge by all members of the community. The water tank barrows can be filled up here and transported to the garden.
This original idea came from a young man from the community and was developed to series maturity in collaboration with the Ndlovu Care Group.
This is what we mean by helping people to help themselves.

The Ndlovu Care Group also promotes a wide variety of ideas for innovative irrigation using the simplest of means.
Firstly, there is the drip irrigation system.
Empty 2-liter PET bottles are used here to cultivate the land with minimal water consumption. Holes are drilled into the bottom of the containers. The bottles are buried in the gardens and then filled with water from above. The water is then gradually released directly to the lower roots of the plants. The advantage is that the plants are watered slowly and continuously. Above all, however, evaporation losses are completely minimized as the water is released directly underground. When watering from above, a lot of water evaporates through the hot sand and does not even reach the roots.

On the other hand, there are mobile gardens. A simple method for gardening and watering: Individual plants are grown in old cornmeal sacks, which practically everyone has at home. If it rains, they are placed outside. If there is too much sunshine, the sacks can easily be moved inside or behind the house to protect them from too much sun. The cornmeal bags are made of PP woven material, which is water-resistant.

In this way, a first, uncomplicated step towards self-sufficiency can be taken with the simplest resources that can be found in every household – soft drink bottles and maize meal sacks. The seedlings are supplied free of charge by the Ndlovu Care Group from its seedling factories. The cultivation here is supported by the Hugo Tempelman Foundation and the RTL “Wir helfen Kindern” foundation.