At Constitutional level, legislation in South Africa entrenches the provision of food and
water for all its citizens. In instances where citizens are unable to provide in these basic
requirements for themselves, social assistance should be provided to ensure a healthy life
for all. In this regard, legislation and Town Planning ordinances and regulations are in
place to ensure that built-up environments in which we live and work are healthy and safe
for all. However, this study revealed that food provisioning by community gardeners is
peripheral in legislation, ordinances and regulations and the practice of urban agriculture
is, in many instances, in conflict with the principle of safe and healthy food for all.
Community gardeners/urban agriculturists are food farmers within the city who produce
food for themselves and others without the checks and balances that are otherwise
applicable to food brought into the city from outside. While food production on any piece of
available land is vital for these community gardeners for their sustenance and survival, it
could become a potential health hazard if no checks or testing measures are in place to
ensure that the food being produced is safe for human consumption.
The study sought the views and perceptions of community gardeners, residents,
Environmental Health Practitioners and Town Planners in the eThekwini Metro region with
regards to community gardening/urban agriculture and its impact on food provisioning to
citizens. For data collection, a one-on-one interviewing survey method was used with all
four groups and results were calculated and converted to average percentages and
analysed.
The results revealed that there was conflict between legislation, ordinances and
regulations regarding the production of food in the built-up environment of the EThekwini
Municipality. It was also revealed that there was no cohesive policy to control the
production of food produced and sold by community gardeners in the study area.
The need for control measures and regulations regarding food production and sale by
community gardeners was highlighted. Moreover, where ineffective or none such
measures or controls exist, a transparent and consultative process involving all
stakeholders must take place in order to establish up viable and sustainable control
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measures. The people who will be most affected by these rules, namely the community
gardeners, should be pivotal role players in the establishment of a sustainable urban
agriculture policy