Zukiswa Pikoli, Maverick Citizen editor, travelled to the Western Cape to get the perspectives of people who grow our food. They spoke out about pesticide exposure and the struggle for a fair wage, despite the very real possibility of losing their livelihoods.
She then trundled through the bumpy dirt roads to Nqileni village in the Eastern Cape, where an NGO is working to improve the lives of children and adults, both locally and also through national policy advocacy.
She returned to Johannesburg to get a firsthand account of food insecurity in Bertrams and to meet one young person who is committed to community. She also spoke to an owner of an alternative grocery store — only organic, and only driven to healthier food choices in a fast-paced city.
All episodes are hosted and produced by Pikoli, co-produced by Lillian Roberts, recorded at Flame Studios at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, and edited by Martin Nkanyiso Ngwenya.
Episode 1: Poisoned Producers – perilous working conditions of farmworkers who feed South Africa
Charmaine King, a seasonal farmworker, speaks to Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli about pesticide exposure, her working and living conditions on the Stellenbosch farm she works on, and what it is like to be food-insecure despite being a food producer in South Africa. She also spoke about her hopes for the future of agricultural workers in the country.
/file/attachments/orphans/CharmaineKing_6907_442903.jpg "Charmaine King, a seasonal farmworker, speaks to Daily Maverick about her life and living conditions as a farmeworker. (Photo: Nathi Nqobile)")
Episode 2, Part 1: Feeding a nation & farmworkers’ food insecurity
Dr Kara Mackay of the Women on Farms project outlines to Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli what her role is in the NGO, why the organisation was created and how it supports women farmworkers in the Northern and Western Cape.
/file/attachments/orphans/DrKaraMackay_6983_599094.jpg "Dr Kara Mackay works with Women on Farms, where they focus on decent work, feminist reparation, and equitable access to land. They have focused heavily on the 'double standards' campaign, where pesticides banned in Europe are exported for use in Africa and elsewhere. (Photo: Nathi Nqobile)")
Episode 3, Part 2: Feeding a nation & farmworkers’ food insecurity
Dr Kara Mackay of the Women on Farms project is back in conversation with Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli, talking about the structural causes of a lack of transformation in commercial agriculture, and what the government should do to change the lives of food producers.
Episode 4: From Nqileni to National Policy – the grassroots mobilisation for water and early childhood development
Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli talks to Tshepo Mantjé, an advocate for early childhood development and a Right to ECD coordinator at the Equality Collective (based in Nqileni village, Eastern Cape), about what the organisation does, why they chose to work with the people of Nqileni and what the challenges are with access to justice, infrastructure, nutrition and early childhood development.
/file/attachments/orphans/Tamsin-ECD-nutrition3_205862.jpg "Tshepo Mantjé, an early childhood development (ECD) coordinator with the Equality Collective and Real Reform for ECD. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
Episode 5, Part 2: From Nqileni to National Policy: The grassroots mobilisation for water and early childhood development
Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli is back in conversation with Tshepo Mantjé, advocate for early childhood development and a right to ECD coordinator at the Equality Collective (based in Nqileni village, Eastern Cape), to talk about the national policy on early childhood development, areas for improvement with nutrition and policy implementation, educating people about early nutrition and encouraging them to get involved in their own communities, as well as his personal experience on the ground – from slow wins in the ECD sector, to the indigenous knowledge keepers in the Eastern Cape.
Episode 6: Living off the land – a subsistence farmers’ way of life
Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli talks to subsistence farmer Mam Nothembile Malaile from Nqileni village in the Eastern Cape about how she has worked the land for two decades to feed her family, and what she grows on her hillside plot that faces the lagoon, as well as the soap-making she is involved with and how she passed on her farming skills to her children and grandchildren.
/file/attachments/orphans/WFD_2980_506285.jpg "Mam Nothembile Malaile from Nqileni village in the Eastern Cape tills the earth, and has farmed for over two decades, with a single donkey to help. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
Episode 7, Part 1: Urban food insecurity – a story about Johannesburg
Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli is in conversation with Refiloe Sibisi, who works at The People’s Pantry in Bertrams, Johannesburg. She outlines what young people struggle with in tertiary education, and about mental health issues through the generations due to lack of income and food insecurity. She also talks about how The People’s Pantry works with recycling, a swap shop and providing food.
/file/attachments/orphans/WFD_3553_747759.jpg "Refilwe Sibisi spoke to Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli about the challenges the Betrams community faces, from her own experience working at The People's Pantry, a non-profit addressing food security in Johannesburg. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")