NDA COMMEMORATES WORLD FOOD DAY AND INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY

By Staff Writer.

• ⁠South Africa faces ongoing challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality, resulting in vulnerable communities facing hunger and a lack of economic opportunities.
• The National Development Agency (NDA) is commemorating the United Nations’ World Food Day and International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which speaks directly to the agency’s mandate of contributing to the eradication of poverty.
• The NDA is collaborating with two cooperatives based in Limpopo that are making a difference in their communities.

South Africa continues to face insistent challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality. This translates to vulnerable communities, households, and individuals, resulting in hunger and unsustainable livelihoods with poor standards of living.

The month of October, which marks Social Development Month, seeks to review and strengthen social and development intervention programmes that mitigate these challenges.

This week, the National Development Agency (NDA), an agency of the Department of Social Development, is commemorating the United Nations’ World Food Day and International Day for the Eradication of Poverty – days that speak directly to the agency’s mandate to contribute towards the eradication of poverty in the country.

Key to the commemorations is showcasing the role of civil society organisations in leading programmes that benefit communities, harnessing their skills and creating jobs.

A crucial aspect of this is the recognition of the importance of collaborative partnerships between government, the private sector, and civil society organisations to yield results on progressive rural economic activities.

World Food Day 2025, on 16 October, takes place under the theme “Hand in hand for better foods and a better future”, and emphasises the need for collaboration and collective action across various sectors and generations to build peaceful, sustainable, and food-secure world systems.

Aligned with this is an NDA-funded programme, the Tshilimagana Agricultural Cooperative in Vhembe District of Limpopo, which has focused on crop farming since 2010. After receiving grant funding from the agency, the cooperative has now diversified into livestock farming.

The cooperative has, to date, created 64 permanent jobs, with the numbers rising over 100 during planting and harvesting season.

The project supplies Tiger Brands with tomatoes to produce All Joy Tomato Sauce.

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, on 17 October, is an annual reminder that ending poverty is not only about income, but about dignity, justice, and belonging.

In 2025, the day focuses on a powerful theme: “Ending social and institutional maltreatment by ensuring respect and effective support for families”.

A partnership with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Africa validates the power of collaborative partnerships in supporting rural enterprises such as the Ivutomi Agricultural and Poultry Primary Cooperative in Tzaneen, Limpopo.

Operational capacity has been increased at the cooperative thanks to the provision of funds to build a dam for water storage, provide irrigation to collect water from the nearby river, install electricity, build an office, add a perimeter fence, and buy agriculture inputs and implements.

The cooperative is also hosting 24 students from a nearby Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college, providing them with much-needed practical skills in agriculture.

“Poverty and food insecurity are inseparable,” said the NDA’s chief operations officer, Susan Khumalo.

“Across the country, we are engaged in interventions, through civil society organisations, that deliver skills development, job opportunities, and capacity building training that strengthen civil society organisations with not only governance issues, but also ensuring that they create sustainable livelihoods for their communities.

“These two cooperatives are a clear example of what communities can achieve when they take charge of their own development,” Khumalo added.

Khumalo further noted that poverty statistics remain high, but that this could be overcome if the public, private, and civil society organisations strengthened collaborations by pooling resources targeted at poverty eradication interventions.