One Million seeds from Rijk Zwaan help Cape Forum strengthen vegetable gardens and agricultural skills at schools

Cape Forum received more than one million seeds from Rijk Zwaan, the Dutch seed and vegetable breeding company, on 4 February for the benefit of the organisation’s project to establish vegetable gardens at schools. This generous donation will be used at schools where Cape Forum is already involved with a strong focus on practical learning, sustainable school projects and the establishment and expansion of vegetable gardens. The donation includes seeds of, among others, beetroot, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, various types of peppers, cucumber, chillies and tomatoes.

“When a learner plants a seed, they not only learn about the seed’s development into a full grown plant but also about responsibility, nutrition, self-reliance, value chains and the value of labour. This donation is an investment in our children’s future,” says Bernard Pieters, Head of Community Activation at Cape Forum.

This initiative builds directly on Cape Forum’s existing approach where school and community projects are central and where agricultural and skills development play an important role, including through school and community initiatives such as vegetable gardens (and related sustainable projects) that expose learners to real opportunities in the agricultural sector. At some of the schools, the vegetables will also be used at the local feeding scheme. According to the South African Child Gauge 2025, hunger affects approximately 330 000 children in the Western Cape. This province is also the only one in the country where the child hunger rate has not decreased in the past two decades. This is also a strong indication that agriculture should be considered again to tackle hunger.

Cape Forum thanks Rijk Zwaan for their willingness to make a measurable difference locally and for the work the company does internationally to make food production more sustainable. Furthermore, Rijk Zwaan is part of broader industry efforts to make seed production more sustainable through collaboration across company boundaries – an approach that shows that long-term food security and responsible production really matter. This ethos also aligns with Saai, Cape Forum’s agricultural partner, that sustainability, profitability and efficiency are part of the value chain for food security.

Cape Forum looks forward to working with its involved schools, educators and learners to turn this donation into a visible, measurable impact garden by garden, class by class, learner by learner.

Get involved with Cape Forum today and help make a difference. Send an email to info@kaapseforum.co.za or join www.kaapseforum.co.za.