Aberdeen will soon be home to a state of the art piggery in a bid to house, not only the pigs of existing small and emerging farmers, but also those in a new project aimed at poverty alleviation and the development of sustainable farming practices for the community.
The new piggery, where the digging for foundations began this past week, will consist of 4 sties located on the Bokpost – a Municipal initiative aimed at providing increased commonage for local farmers. The Bokpost comprises 3896 hectares of farm land of which 40 hectares has been allocated by the Municipality for the piggery. Each pigsty will have a holding capacity of 80 pigs allowing for a total capacity of 320 pigs.
Once completed, all pig farmers will be obligated to move their pigs from the residential areas, particularly in Lotusville and Thembalesizwe, into the piggery. This will alleviate the current problems of pigs roaming around town destroying gardens and imperiling road users. It will also eliminate the need for the Municipality to confiscate stray pigs and send them to the municipal pound in Graaff-Reinet.
The funding for the piggery has come from the Department of Agriculture, and the project is being overseen by Mr Mpathi who is the Departmental Community Liaison Officer. The correct tender process was followed and the tender was awarded to a building contractor from Uitenhage.
The funding for the piggery has come from the Department of Agriculture, and the project is being overseen by Mr Mpathi who is the Departmental Community Liaison Officer. The correct tender process was followed and the tender was awarded to a building contractor from Uitenhage.
Article By: Nikolas Jankovich