Joburg prioritises food resilience, agri development

During his State of the City Address on Thursday, 9 May 2013, Tau noted that in Johannesburg, 42% of the poor go without a meal between one and three days in a month. In Gauteng, food accounts for 30% of the budget of working class households, and up to 60% in poor households.

"Let us state this clearly. No one should go hungry in this city. We are leading the most comprehensive urban food resilience programme in the country and have formed a coalition with other spheres of government, the non-profit sector, the private sector and communities themselves.

"Over the past nine months, we have put the key elements of this programme in place. Food insecure communities have been mobilised and empowered to transform open spaces into food gardens, including many that might otherwise have remained or become dumpsites or vacant spaces," Tau reported.

He added that the food empowerment zones will leverage the city's large land assets to provide opportunities for intensive farming, enabling emerging farmers to come together as a common economic force.

However, Tau stressed that to make Johannesburg food resilient, they needed to reorganise their workforce to create viable and sustainable economic opportunities across the entire value chain of the food system.

This, he said, included urban agriculture, distribution, retail and consumption. He also urged the communities to support the food empowerment zones by buying from local producers to help the city become food resilient.

"Individual households and communities have an important role to play in growing their own food and augmenting their household food supplies. We are asking everyone in this city to support this initiative and to be aware about where you buy your food," Tau said.

Giving an update on the city's initiatives in promoting healthy lifestyles, last Saturday Tau launched the 'Healthy Lifestyle Campaign - Go Jozi Campaign. Be Active. Feel Good'.

The campaign is a citywide healthy lifestyle promotion programme to address the silent threat of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, heart conditions, high blood pressure and chronic illnesses.

Tau said through the campaign, the city will work with fast food outlets and food retailers to promote healthy and nutritious foods.

"We cannot let this silent threat erode the quality of life of our citizens. For this reason we are scaling up our advocacy programmes in the city. Prevention is better than cure.

"Let's get involved in promoting the health and wellbeing of our city by pledging your support. Take personal responsibility to drive this campaign at home. Begin in your own family and Joburg will support you."

He also challenged the medical aid schemes, including provincial government departments, to partner with the city to deliver the message in gyms, restaurants, playgrounds, shopping malls, universities and government offices.