To address food shortage, activists call on govt to compel farm owners to share unused land with workers

CAPE TOWN - Community activists at the Food Indaba in Cape Town have called on government to compel farm owners to share unused land with workers to address food shortages in the country.

The Union Against Hunger held a mini indaba for World Hunger Day on Wednesday to support communities in asserting their right to food.

The union said that despite constitutional rights to food and nutrition, 15 million people go hungry in South Africa.

Women on Farms activist, Colette Solomons, called for the redistribution of productive farmland, specifically to women seasonal farmers and poor communities.

READ: 'We are slaves on the farms': Women farmworkers want a seat on the table

"It really boggles the mind that there is such a lot of land unused, but at the same time, the workers on those farms would love to have access to land so that they can grow their own vegetables."

Solomons added that there was little transformation in the commercial agriculture sector, especially in the Western Cape.

"If you go to Stellenbosch today, if you go to Paarl today, the land is still in the hands of white male farmers."

She said the people who continued to work the land were still poor black workers.