In the district in which Genesis operates, over 66,000 people live below the minimum living level and 62% of the population do not have adequate access to water. Hunger is widespread. Unlike famines that receive emergency-aid, chronic hunger is a silent, invisible, ongoing challenge.

Hunger, poverty and food prices are inextricably linked and in South Africa, food prices have risen nine times in 2011 alone. This creates seemingly insurmountable challenges for the poor. Whilst not every poor person is hungry, almost all hungry people are poor. The Genesis Gardening Programme has the goal of helping people to move beyond chronic hunger by developing sustainable food production based on self-reliance.The programme is also a way of sharing the good news of Christ to the community.

Gardens are run at 5 sites – 3 are in under-resourced communities, 1 is at a Rehabilitation Centre and one is at the Genesis Care Centre. Our role is to train and encourage the community gardeners, provide technical expertise and access to resources such as seeds, fertilizers and tools. A key component is the provision of spiritual support to the gardeners.

The innovative and highly cost effective “grow bag” concept, introduced to us by WillowCreek Church, is used at some sites and is very popular because it requires little maintenance, less watering and less space.

We remain firmly committed to fighting hunger by offering low cost, sustainable food production solutions.