At a time in South Africa where food prices continue to soar like an eagle, and food security squirms in its clutches, seeing organisations do their part to uplift local communities becomes all-important.
In parts of the Garden Route, SANParks is lending a helping hand and a green thumb to communities adjacent to its national parks. Taking the approach of the well-known adage “teach a man to fish and he will be richer forever”, SANParks is giving people angling and gardening equipment to grow their sustainable livelihood.
These areas include the Wilderness Heights, Klienkrantz, Smutsville and Rheenendal communities.
In Smutsville particularly, pensioners have been focused on in collaboration with the Garden Route Biosphere Reserve. 30 pensioners will get to use their indigenous knowledge thanks to the angling project, and help younger generations in the process.
“The ideology behind the project is to ensure that there is an intergenerational skills transfer with youth also learning from the pensioners, while also addressing the issue of illegal fishing. The Programme also aims to assist pensioners with fishing permits as they depend on marine resources as food,” says SANParks CEO, Dumisani Dlamini.
The initiative falls part of SANParks Community Social Legacy Programme which is aimed at addressing community social needs.
“We are proud to be handing over this much-needed equipment as part of our Food Security and Angler Support Programmes, both which will make a difference in the lives of the people living near to the Wilderness Section of the Garden Route National Park,” Dlamini says.
Combatting poverty through sustainable food security:
SANParks programmes aid the food security problem, which is a cornerstone of poverty worldwide.
Food security is defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security as “all people, at all times, [having] physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.”
In an approach that ties tourism profits to bettering local communities, the Community Social Legacy Projects see funding from the 1% tourism income on all accommodation bookings. SANParks says that over the last four years this amount is estimated to be between R6 million to R7 million per annum.
SANParks has a history of community upliftment, from school infrastructures like computer and science labs to mobile libraries and playgrounds
“During the 2020-2021 year as part of the SANParks COVID Relief Programme, the Social Legacy Fund invested its proceeds to provide much-needed support in the form of food hampers to 8 500 needy families, 80 water tanks, hand sanitisers and surgical masks to communities neighbouring our national parks,” Dlamini adds.
Also read:
14 year-old Cape Town artist’s adventure – ‘autism is a different ability’
Picture: Pexels