PELUM South Africa, with its 32 member organisations, is working towards achieving the following objectives:

1. Information sharing: members share information on various themes regularly
2. Organising and linking farmers: Farmers are facilitated to attend networking and learning meetings and conferences
3. Capacity enhancement: Various information packages on events are passed to members and farmers.

PELUM South Africa actively promotes food sovereignty among its constituents and other partners in development. The sub-themes include seed security, breeding rights, indigenous and traditional cultures, organic production and marketing, food safety, health and nutrition and access and ownership of natural resources. PELUM South Africa promotes food sovereignty by:

1. Enhancing the capacities of individuals and communities in rural and urban areas of South Africa to produce, process and market organic, traditional and indigenous foods.
2. Supporting smallholder farmers and livestock keepers to save and maintain their own organic, traditional seeds and breeds
3. Raising awareness among urban and rural consumers about the need for safe, healthy and culturally appropriate foods and their right to define their won food and agriculture systems
4. Lobby local, provincial and national government about current policies and processes that enable and/or constrain access to and ownership of natural resources and ecologically sound stewardship by rural and urban users

PELUM South Africa held a Food First Conference in September 2006 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa which saw attendance of over 70 people - small-scale farmers, NGOs and Government from South Africa, Lesotho, Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia. The participants gathered together to discuss food issues and challenges but also to relaunch the South African Chapter of PELUM Association.

Contact details

PELUM South Africa
Private Bag X01
Scottsville 3209

Michael Malinga. country coordinator