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Village Gardens To Supply Walmart Outlets in South Africa

Village Gardens To Supply Walmart Outlets in South Africa

Massmart, a subsidiary of U.S. retail giant Walmart in South Africa, has signed a deal that will allow local village fresh produce farmers to sell their products across its outlets in the country, SAnews reported.

The leading American retailer bought 51 percent of South Africa’s Massmart in 2011, spending $2.4bn on a company that has 340 stores in 12 sub-Saharan countries.

Small-scale rural farmers under a cooperative society in the former Kwandebele homeland, known as ‘Akwande food garden project’ now have access to these outlets, which will providing a ready market for their produce.

Last year, South Africa’s Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry signed an agreement with a non-governmental organization, TechnoServe SA, and retailer Massmart, aimed at creating jobs and providing support for smallholder farmers, particularly women farmers, in poor communities.

Akwande Project Manager Peter Sekwele said the group started the project in 2010 as a way of feeding the surrounding community with fresh produce. “At the project, we grow tomatoes, cabbage and beetroot just to mention a few in our four hectares of land.”

Sekwele said they were already selling their fresh produce to Pick ‘n Pay, Spar and Shoprite. He added that the project utilizes hydroponics, a controlled environment that recycles water and nutrients to optimize on space and keep out weeds and diseases.