Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2014-10-30

Over 30 women farmers and school farming projects from around the country were honoured by international food and beverage company Nestlé South Africa in Sandton on Thursday for their role in using farming to uplift disadvantaged communities.

The Nestlé Community Nutrition Awards, which were started 21 years ago, applauds and rewards gardening and farming innovations by rural women who improve the nutritional status of their community through food, nutrition or agricultural projects.

“The primary aim of this programme is to encourage these women to continue to combat the poverty and malnutrition by creating their own food gardens and ensuring food security,” Millicent Molete, the media relations manager for Nestle South Africa told Radio Islam.

“In 2009 we started extended the programme to include a schools category which supplements the national schools nutrition programme of the Department of Basic Education.”

Nestlé’s investment in community nutrition is primarily to shift attention towards rural women as drivers of rural progress.

Having recognized the low socio-economic status of women in these areas, the financial contribution made by the company has created a number of self-reliant women.

These women have cultivated their food gardens from very small establishments to projects that have ensured food security for their families and immediate communities.

(Twitter: @Faizie143)