The City of Ekurhuleni has invited proposals from interested organisations to conduct agricultural activities on parcels of Council-owned land in different towns.
The programme will see successful bidders being awarded municipal farms by way of lease for a period of nine years and 11 months.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Finance and Economic Development, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, said the city has opened the bidding process in an attempt to establish a permanent urban and near urban agricultural base to ensure a local food source for the local economy.
“We intend to provide opportunities for community economic development by creating jobs and meaningful work for the local community. We also want to reduce the volume of agricultural imports by providing locally grown, produced and sold foodstuffs, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to food transportation, and helping to reduce the impact of climate change,” Xhakaza said.
Xhakaza said the city is going to partner with organisations to pilot and implement sustainable agricultural practices and programmes on municipal farms.
“We are going to partner with individuals and organisations to develop innovative, educational programming that focuses on themes on sustainable urban agriculture, including sustainable farming and food security practices.
“We have different categories of farms varying in size from social farms 1, which are less than 5 hectares; social farms 2, which are more than 5 hectares but less than 10 hectares; small scale farms, which are 10 – 30 hectares; developmental commercial farms, which are 30 – 100 hectares and established commercial farms, which are more than 100 hectares,” Xhakaza said.
He urged the farming community to take advantage of this opportunity by visiting the municipal tender office at 68 Woburn Avenue in Benoni, or visit the website www.ekurhuleni.gov.za for more information.
The City of Ekurhuleni will from Wednesday host stakeholder engagement sessions to educate interested bidders on the City’s Agriculture Development Strategy, and provide more information and guidelines on the Supply Chain Management process flow to be used when submitting proposals/bids during Phase 2 of the programme.
The sessions will be held on 18 August 2021 at Thembisa Council Chamber, 23 August 2021 at Phola Park Hall, Thokoza, and 25 August 2021 at Benoni Council Chamber. All sessions will start at 10am.
Due to COVID-19 protocols, only 50 people will be allowed in the venues. The sessions will also be livestreamed on all Ekurhuleni platforms
The closing date for the bid is 31 August 2021 at 10am.
Source: South African Government News Agency