Highflats-Ixopo Farmers Association mobilise to help the vulnerable DURING covid-19 lockdown
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought enormous challenges for people across our country and the world over, but even more so for the unemployed who, under lockdown, have been unable to undertake the piecemeal jobs they require in order to put food on their tables and the elderly and frail who take great risk venturing out of their homes to collect their social grants in order to purchase food. In response to this crisis, the commercial farmers from Ixopo and Highflats in southern Kwa-Zulu Natal, pulled together to provide food for the most vulnerable families in their district over the Easter period. Provision streamed in from multiple sources with the Ixopo Agricultural Trust pledging R30 000, Craig and Sue Macfarlane providing 2000kg of potatoes, 400kg of lemons coming from the Carisbrooke Valley Citrus farmers, Mike and Kim Woodburn providing butternut, Jonathan Biggs, green mealies and Sutherland Seedlings, a parcel of vegetable seedlings for each household.
Debbie Rowe of Creighton Sunflower and Sue Hedden of Woza Moya, shared their knowledge of the communities in the area by helping to identify 200 of the most vulnerable households to be earmarked for food distribution. The following communities were targeted: Ofafa (40 families), Mazabakweni and Highflats informal settlement (40 families), Ixopo central (40 families), Hopewell (20 families), Umzimkhulu (20 families) and the Ixopo Disaster Management distributing to a further 40 families. Each household received 10kg of potatoes, 2kg of lemons, 10kg of maize meal, 5kg of soya mince, a couple of butternuts, about 5 green mealies and a parcel of vegetable seedlings.
Farmers and volunteers, collectively dubbed ‘Farmers for Humanity’, gathered at the Peace Initiative Hall in Ixopo on Thursday 9th of April to assemble the food parcels and rollout distribution thereof. The District Mayor, Mr Nxumalo, Mayor of Ubuhlebezwe, Ms Ngubo and Municipal Manager, Mr Sineke, were also in attendance to show their support and gratitude for what was a perfect example of how we can work together to meet the needs of the less fortunate around us during these adverse times.