A Kommetjie farmer wants to bring pigs into the city as part of an urban agriculture project, saying it would address food and water security in the Western Cape.
Akim Riemer heads up the Green Guerrillas, urban farmers in the south Peninsula who use what he calls basic and peasant-style methods, which he has fine-tuned during the past seven years.
Riemer has put together a working model for outdoor pig farming that requires a piece of land of about 400m2 surrounded by an electric fence and bordered by tyres for producing potatoes.
He has identified some suitable areas in District 6 and Oranjezicht.
“The area can be overgrown and full of building rubble. Pigs are master recyclers and bring fertility back to the soil. They will clear an area by eating all the organic matter, and rooting and turning up all non-organic matter.”
He said pigs were incredibly clean and highly intelligent animals.
Riemer has about 50 pigs in Sunnydale, Kommetjie, where he farms using what he describes as a “closed-loop system”.
All their waste is fed to composting worms that eat “their own body weight” in a day.
The worm poo or vermicast is mixed with sea sand and its yield is increased using what Riemer calls a “hillbilly” approach involving a fish tank heater, an air pump in a thousand litre container.
This is used to grow vegetables and herbs.
“It’s a bit like baking – there is a recipe. And we’ve worked out a recipe to make liquid fertiliser for 7c a litre.”
He said it allowed him to farm with less water and no chemicals.
Riemer says the method was basic but everything was done ethically. “I grow amazing pork. I don’t mind eating pigs because I harvest them with respect.”
The farmers slaughter their own animals to prevent the stress from being transported to an abattoir.
He said huge corporate pig farms used inhumane methods where “pigs spent their lives inside on cement pens and those farrowing were confined so they could barely move”.
At his farm, pigs get to follow their natural behaviour and are fed a diet of nutritious micro greens, kelp that has trace elements and Port Jackson that are full of protein.
Allan Perrins, chief executive of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, said although the organisation was supportive of the principles of sustainable agriculture and biological farming, it questioned the suitability of introducing pigs into the city.”
In our experience, a lack of access to adequate funding, veterinary resources, water, feed and suitable land would be inhibitors.” He added that livestock theft was also a reality that would have to be considered.
Mayoral committee member for Health Siyabulela Mamkeli said a permit would be required in terms of Chapter Five of the city’s Animal by-law to bring pigs into the city.
He said people could contact their nearest environmental health office, which could assist with the permitting application and site inspections.