Yesterday Cape Talk and Eye Witness News were all abuzz with a story of water pollution and the Philippi Horticultural Area;

“CAPE TOWN - Some farmers in Philippi have told Eyewitness News they are being forced to illegally use dirty water to irrigate their crops. 

The farmers say the degradation of the Lotus River, which runs through the area, is at the heart of their woes. 
The river was once a pristine, highly valued source for irrigating crops, but it has now been reduced to an eyesore and major health hazard. 
When visiting the river, Eyewitness News witnessed litter strewn alongside the river and a powerful stench of raw sewage emanating from it.
Farmers say it has been four years since they have been asked not to use the river for anything.
But they say they do not have any alternative and the city has ignored their pleas.
Some farmers have given up while others continue using the contaminated river water.
They have attached their own purification devices to irrigate their crops.
Meetings between the farmers and city officials have been held in the past, but no solution has yet been found. ” (source)

The radio was asking questions about the safety of the food and were recommended by a representative of the Philippi Economic Development Initiative (PEDI) to  ”take necessary precautions when eating vegetables from the area. Questions were being asked about whether the area should be rezoned and farming given up. 

And so runs a story of the politics of a partial story. 

The story generated with one farmer in the North West side of the Philippi Horticultural Area, which does have to bore down deeper to access water from the acquirer and does struggle to access water during summer. It does not apply to the Area as a whole, which was the implication of the story.

The representative from PEDI, when asked where the produce goes spoke of the Fresh Produce Market, the hawkers, the farm stall etc, but did not mention the Supermarket sector. Some 80% of food produced in the Area goes into this stream which is subject to traceability requirement complying with health regulations including EuroGap. The produce going into the less formal streams uses the same water and is therefore just as safe. This report potentially creates a health scare and falsely undermines the viability of the PHA as a farming area. (Thanks to Gareth Haysom for this point)

While it is important that the City address the ongoing problems of the PHA, it does seem as if certain parties have ‘pushed’ this story for political ends. In whose interest is it for the PHA to be rezoned?

After the story broke, the Station interview Ald. Belinda Walker who when asked whether the City should consider rezoning this piece of land said that we needed to be very careful when speaking about rezoning of agricultural land as food insecurity is set to be a bigger and bigger issue. She went as far as saying it could be considered foolish and short-sighted to talk about rezoning agricultural land in this context. Thank you, Ald. Walker.

The report on the work we recently conducted on the PHA and its farmers should be released soon and it will hopefully reinforce this view.

Consider the chicken

(Source: http://permaculture.org.au/2010/10/29/why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road/)

The DA have released the following statement:

“DA NS says rate is at 7.7% for those spending less than R14,564 a year

Inflation much higher for poor South Africans 

Statistics South Africa today released the latest Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) statistics, indicating that inflation has increased slightly to 6.1% in the last month. 

But beneath the headline statistics, troubling facts about inflation for poor South Africans can be found. Poor South Africans experience much higher inflation than the reported CPI rate. Those South Africans who spend less than R14 564 per year, for example, face inflation at 7.7%, whilst the richest South Africans only experience inflation of 5.6%. 

Here is the full breakdown:

These statistics clearly show that the poorer you are the higher inflation is on the goods and services you generally purchase. 

This only exacerbates inequality and entrenches poverty.  

These are the results of significant increases in the price of goods and services that the poor are especially dependent on. Items like bread and cereals (10.6% more expensive than last year) and electricity and other fuels (17.1% more expensive than last year), which make up a significant portion of the poor’s monthly expenditure, have increased at much higher rates than other goods and services. 

This underscores why more must be done to limit the increases in the cost of living for the poorest South Africans. 

Those “administered prices” where government has direct control over the price of goods must be reviewed to find savings for poor South Africans. Other efforts, like increasing competition in important industries and improving the efficiency of government entities like Metrorail can also help to alleviate the pressure on poor families. 

I will continue to take this message to government and ordinary South Africans as part of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) cost of living campaign. We must do everything we can to defend the living standards of our people. 

Statement issued by Mmusi Maimane, DA National Spokesperson, May 23 2012”

Yes. Thank you for recognizing this. Now it is time to enact policies that help the most vulnerable. This will take some hard thinking about the assumptions that allow the food system to persist as it is.

Jerry Farrell, Save the Children’s director in Yemen. “Political instability, conflict and high prices have left families across the country going hungry,” he said. “We know that children always suffer the most when food is in short supply, and unless urgent humanitarian action is taken, Yemen will be plunged into a hunger crisis of catastrophic proportions

This from today’s Cape Times:

“Fresh produce hawkers have lodged an urgent application in the Western Cape High Court to stop the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement officials from demolishing several structures they trade from in Mitchells Plain in terms of a by-law relating to streets, public places and the prevention of noise nuisance.

It is the city’s stance that the structures were erected without consent.

And while the notices were served to traders in that area only, traders from other parts of the province fear the city will take action on them too, says attorney Rooshdeen Rudolph.

They formed the Western Cape Fresh Produce Crisis Committee and, according to Rudolph, its membership is growing after news of the city’s action spread in the informal trader industry.

Rudolph said two structures have already been demolished.

In an affidavit before the court, committee vice-chairman Zihad Bam said Rudolph wrote to the city on behalf of the committee to ask it to give the traders 14 days to make written submissions regarding the issue.

However, no response was received, prompting the committee to lodge an urgent application in the High Court.

Bam said it would not prejudice the city to wait for another 14 days, “especially if regard is had to the fact that (the committee’s) members have been trading in the manner they have for years without causing any harm to the environment or the community”.

“To date there has not been a single incident reported to the SA Police Service to suggest that the members of the applicant committee are causing a threat or disturbance in the area,” he said.

The case was supposed to be heard on Friday but did not proceed because the parties involved were negotiating a settlement.”

Come on and Eat for the Earth

Soil for Life do some really interesting work. As much as argue that Urban Ag is not THE answer to food insecurity, it can be part of the answer, and the work that Soil for Life do in  taking growing food beyond simply being about growing food makes them an important agent for change. 

Have a look at the video and consider taking part - wherever you are - on 5 June

Copenhagen, Denmark (May 14, 2012) – A year-long project involving more than 65 researchers has culminated with a panel of economists including four Nobel laureates identifying the smartest ways to allocate money to respond to ten of the world’s biggest challenges.
The Copenhagen Consensus 2012 Expert Panel finds that fighting malnourishment should be the top priority for policy- makers and philanthropists.
Nobel laureate economist Vernon Smith said: “One of the most compelling investments is to get nutrients to the world’s undernourished. The benefits from doing so – in terms of increased health, schooling, and productivity – are tremendous.”.

Full statement here: http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/Files/Filer/CC12%20papers/CC12%20Results%20Press%20Release%20Final.pdf