Agricultural Land

Gauteng

The province of Gauteng, enclosing the provincial capital megacity of Johannesburg, has a marked reduction in agricultural operations when compared to its immediate neighboring provinces, due to historical mining operations. That said, Gauteng is not without its own agricultural production. Farming here is smaller and less physically contiguous, but still an integral component of food security.    
       Small-holder farms take the shape of rows of fields, or large circles in the landscape indicative of pivot-irrigated farming, both of which can be seen in large-scale commercial farming operations outside of the province, but which have simply been down-scaled for smaller farms. These farms are usually near low-income neighborhoods, and on soil that has already been nutritionally or structurally degraded.
        Subsistence farming sees individual households or groups of households grow crops and keep livestock for their own personal consumption. As global temperatures and foodinsecurity rise, these small farms may hold the key to bolstering national food security in South Africa.