Shoprite’s second Act For Change Food Garden Competition opens for entries on 20 October, with five winning community gardens set to share R1m in tailored support.
Source: Supplied | Ngxanga School Garden, Libode, Eastern Cape
Community gardens will be assessed on more than food production, with judges also considering their social impact, contribution to food security, skills development and role in their communities.
“Our purpose is to uplift lives every day by pioneering access to the most affordable goods and services and creating economic opportunity,” says Sanjeev Raghubir, chief sustainability officer at the Shoprite Group.
“Community food gardens bring that purpose to life in a very practical way. They put fresh food within reach, create opportunities for people to learn and earn, and bring communities together. Through this competition, we want to recognise gardens already doing that work and give them support to grow.”
To enter the Act For Change Food Garden Competition, entrants must be aged 18 or older and represent a community-based food garden. Private home gardens, private companies and close corporations are not eligible. Entrants must provide a short description of their garden’s history, purpose and role in the community, along with photographs. The competition is open to all eligible community food gardens.
Entries close on 15 November 2026, and winners will be announced before April 2027. Entries are free and can be submitted online at actforchangefoodgardencompetition.datafree.co, with no data costs applying.
Previous winners put support to work
The inaugural competition attracted nearly 600 entries. Since the winners were announced in March, the gardens have used their support to improve infrastructure, expand production and develop skills.
First-place winner ACFS Khunadi Food Garden in Mogoto Village, Limpopo, has benefited from a shade-net structure to protect its crops.
“Entering the competition made a real difference to our garden,” says Bertha Magoge. “The support helped us improve our infrastructure and food production, to ultimately reach more people in the community. I would encourage other community food gardens to enter.”
At Ngxanga School Garden in Libode, Eastern Cape, a new irrigation system has enabled last year’s second-place winner to expand the garden’s growing area and increase food production. Project Manager Neziswa Mlenzana says the garden has also been able to employ three young people from the community permanently, while Wednesdays are now set aside for learners to work in the garden.
For P Agricultural Group in Soweto, the competition has helped challenge perceptions of what agriculture can offer. Phetole Raseropo, Project Manager and third-place winner, says: “People who once saw farming as something that belonged in rural areas are starting to see agriculture as an opportunity for themselves – something they can learn from, earn from and be part of.”
The other winning gardens are also turning their awards into practical changes, from expanding growing spaces to improving soil health and sharing new skills.
In Gauteng, Hope Park Children’s Health Campus Garden has started a second garden, while Plenty Green Africa in Tsakane has redesigned its growing space and is applying lessons from training in soil health, pest control and seed sowing.
In Gonubie in the Eastern Cape, the Food Security Project is working to restore its soil using wood-chip mulch and improved compost-making methods.
Gardener Delight Omoike says some beneficiaries also want to use what they have learnt about permaculture and making compost with worms at their own homes or fields.
Community garden support programme
For the 2026 competition, Shoprite hopes to attract more gardens seeking support to develop their work in their communities. The competition forms part of the retailer’s broader work with community food gardens, which reached 300 supported gardens in July 2026.
On 27 October, food gardens in Shoprite’s existing programme will have the opportunity to showcase and sell their fresh produce in-store as part of the next Act For Change Market Day, taking place across South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
