On 4 September, SERI launched a new factsheet providing a case study of urban food gardens and food security in Slovo Park. This case study provides an overview of key insights gained by the Slovo Park Community Development Forum (SPCDF) and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) from an intensive workshop training on gender and urban agriculture in informal settlements. The purpose of the training was to empower residents of informal settlements, particularly women, through urban agriculture and community-based food production.
For almost 20 years the Slovo Park community had been promised access to formal services and housing at the settlement. In 2014, the SPCDF approached the Gauteng Local Division to oppose the City’s plan to relocate residents, and requested the court to compel the City to implement the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP). Through the Melani judgment, handed down in 2016, the City was ordered to prepare and submit a funding application to the Provincial Department of Human Settlements in order to upgrade Slovo Park informal settlement in terms of the UISP.
The training was offered during an informal settlement exchange programme facilitated by Mazingira Institute (MI), a Kenyan civil society organisation, in Nairobi and Johannesburg during August and September 2024. The exchange was part of a cooperation initiative between MI and SERI to promote gender-sensitive urban agriculture under the Women’s Spaces Project, addressing the need for urban food systems that contribute to food security and income generation in Johannesburg, particularly for marginalised groups.
The factsheet concludes with recommendations to integrate gender, food security, and use-based land access into South Africa’s upgrading frameworks.
In summary, these are;
- Leverage the existing UISP mandate to secure municipal consent
Informal settlements can use their designation under the UISP as leverage in negotiations with municipal and provincial authorities to acknowledge the expanded food gardens as legitimate components of the in situ upgrading process. Its productive land use is a case for inclusion because it demonstrates alignment with UISP objectives.
- Adopt use-based land access models
Informal settlements like Slovo Park can advocate for local government to adopt flexible, use-based recognition frameworks, such as caretaker agreements or conditional land use rights, that allow residents to cultivate and manage the agricultural land parcels while tenure processes are developed.
- Advocate for mainstream gender and food security into UISP framework
Community food gardens can be treated as part of essential urban infrastructure in informal settlements. The implementation of the UISP can be expanded to include gendered dimensions of land use and food security. Collaboration between Housing, Agriculture, and Local Economic Development departments is required for allocation of resources towards water access, soil improvements, and women’s leadership in food garden
>> Access the full case study here.
