A Definition
Food security is defined as the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. Stages of food insecurity range from food secure situations to full-scale famine.
The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing "when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life".
Retrieved 2020-08-06, from https://www.disabled-world.com/fitness/nutrition/foodsecurity/ - Reference Category Number: DW#436-17.172.98-5c.
The Co-op Community Trust and Food Security
The Co-op Community Trust invests in sustainable food gardens through community organisations like NPO's, Co-ops, Companies, Farmers and Associations. Business should realize that people are our greatest asset and we should invest deeply and thoroughly!
Our vision is that all people in South Africa at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain healthy and active lives. This can only be done when people are empowered to produce their own food and to sell their surplus produce.
Every South African a Farmer!
The Co-op Community Trust is involved in the following ways:
- Investing in community vegetable gardens
- Training sustainable vegetable production to communities
- Development of young farmers
- Farming business development
- Developing local markets for small scale farmers
- Promoting vegetable gardening for every household
- Promoting urban farming
The Co-op Community Trust proudly partners with the following organisations to promote food security:
- Farming God's Way
- Compass GF4GF Centre Somerset-East
- Joshua Project Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp
- Future Farmers Foundation
- Harry Gwala Agri Kokstad, Ixopo and Underberg
These organisations are actively involved in the development of sustainable solutions for food security in South Africa. All of these organisations are registered and legally compliant.
COVID 19 Response
During the first week of South Africa's "Lock-down", the Co-op Community Trust started a COVID 19 Relief Fund with the purpose of developing food security in our communities.
We were in a privileged position where we could harvest from our sustainable vegetable gardens for distribution to those who were hungry. Now the challenge is to promote our "Every Citizen a Farmer" concept.
