One in five South Africans go to bed hungry every day – that is over 10 million men, women and children who have no idea where their next meal is going to come from.

In an effort to help break this chain of poverty, agriculture firms, Laeveld Agrochem and AgricultSURE, have joined forces with their Seed Kit Project, which empowers and equips people to grow their own vegetables.

According to Kobus Hurter, chief executive officer at AgricultSURE, the project aims to provide vegetable seed kits to, in particular, the lower income groups in South Africa. Their single daily meal of maize ‘pap’, marog and meat – for those who can afford it – falls far short of providing adequate sustenance and nutrition. A desperate situation indeed.

The Seed Kit Project’s innovative contents include everything needed to successfully plant, grow and harvest one’s own vegetables. Each R150 summer kit (gem squash, green beans, cabbage, carrot and spinach seeds) and winter kit (cabbage, beetroot, onion, carrot and turnip seeds) also contains two types of fertiliser, complete rope guides and very basic, comic book style illustrated instructions.

Just add water and you can produce an impressive 100 – 120 kg of healthy, nutrient-rich vegetables on a piece of suitable land as small as 15m 2 . This means that for as little as R1 200 (four summer and four winter kits) one can grow enough vegetables to supplement the daily diet of a household of six for a whole year.

A lot of effort and energy are being put into the project, says Corné Liebenberg, Laeveld Agrochem’s marketing director. We realise that this can make a marked difference in the lives, and health, of many South Africans, and by involving schools we are nurturing our country’s future farmers and entrepreneurs.

Neel Rust, chief operating officer at Laeveld Agrochem, remarks that their involvement in the Seed Kit Project comes from them wanting to help address the rising food shortage in South Africa, without posing a threat to the country’s commercial farmers. “The project allows for food to be grown and eaten, which before was never bought and consumed. So it does not compete with the current commercial market for vegetables,” Rust concludes.

Laeveld Agrochem will assist AgricultSURE with the distribution of the vegetable seed kits through their 65 depots countrywide.

For more information, please contact Jeanette Nel at Laeveld Agrochem on 012 940 4398.