Food Security Programmes

Funders
Flemish Government - Flanders International Co-operation Agency and the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs KZN, Department of Cooperative Governance, Harmony Gold, Alfred Nzo District Municipality, KZN Education Trust, Chamber of Mines, Anglo American Chairman's Fund, Anglo Platinum, Northam Platinum.

Description
Poverty and food insecurity levels in South Africa are increasing. Thirty five percent of the population is vulnerable, living below $2 per day. A total of 5.3 million are living with HIV/AIDS and over a million are orphans. In 2007 Lima undertook a baseline survey of 800 households in eight local municipalities in KZN. The study highlighted unemployment of 31.7%. A total of 63% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition of which 18.5% suffer from stunting and 4% from wasting.

To address this problem, Lima has used lessons learnt from the famer support programme, Abalimi Phambili. Lima has focused a large amount of effort on supporting and increasing food production in selected vulnerable households. This has been done through the provision of nutrition education, providing agricultural technical support, infrastructural development and promotion of traditional foods. Projects have been identified through integrated stakeholder forums in each of these areas. Project participants include AIDS support groups, aged persons' clubs, community based care givers, homes for orphaned as well as disabled children, women, youth and schools. Project implementation has seen the development of broiler projects, organic homestead, community and school gardens, irrigation development, rain water harvesting and fencing.

Impacts
Over 5000 selected vulnerable households have benefited from the food security projects. The projects have positively contributed to changing the livelihoods of the helpless households as they now have the ability to produce food of nutritional value for their own consumption and sale of surplus crops.

Areas Of Implementation
Pietermaritzburg, Howick, Harding, Nongoma, Jozini, Manguzi, Umzimvubu, Matatiele, Qumbu, Bush Buck Ridge , Tubatse.