The Mandela Park Peace Garden was the second project of the Mamelodi Greening Committee initiated in 1997 in a partnership between the Jewish National Fund, the British High Commission and Food & Trees for Africa to develop a one hectare community food garden for pensioners.
The Mandela Park Peace Garden is situated adjacent to the JNF Walter Sisulu Environmental Centre, in Mamelodi just north of the Moretela River overlooking the mountains that form the Eastern boundary of the township. The water table is very high in the area and there is a perennial stream that runs through the garden that forms a wetland, water for the gardens comes from a borehole supplying the community food gardens.
The beneficiaries are all resident of Mamelodi Township and members of the Mandela Park Peace Garden . There are 24 project members most of whom are woman and pensioners; in many cases they are sole income providers in their homesteads earning a government grant only. They use food produced in the garden to supplement their income and to feed themselves. In many cases herbs grown in the garden are utilised for primary health care.
The project has provided land and income opportunities and is sustainably producing food.
The development of the community garden has focused on allocating plots, developing skills, the technical capacity, installed drip irrigation and infrastructure to ensure sustainable production and ongoing soil improvement and management.
