Food Dialogues

31/07/2026

What if water could be found where you least expect it?

At Hack the Kitchen: Kids WATER Lab, young explorers (ages 6–12) will uncover the surprising ways nature stores and finds water.

From desert plants and underground bulbs to coastal fog and the incredible knowledge of the KhoeKhoe people, this interactive workshop reveals the hidden journeys of water through science, food, and culture.

Through hands-on experiments and kitchen adventures, kids will cook, taste, and discover why understanding water has never been more important.

1 August 2026
10:00–12:00
Cape Town Science Centre
Book your tickets: https://foodindaba.org/fi26/ (LINK ALSO IN BIO)

Come curious. And leave inspired.

STEM FoodEducation WaterMatters FamilyFun CapeTownEvents FutureFood

31/07/2026

Meet Mzi Mashicila, the farmer behind every cup of Mzi’s Herbal Tea.

When Mzi lost his job during the Covid-19 pandemic, he never imagined that a neglected piece of land in Langa would become the start of a new chapter. With encouragement from his mother, he transformed a former dumping site into a flourishing urban farm. Along the way, he discovered a passion for organic farming, medicinal herbs, and crafting delicious herbal teas.

Today, Mzi’s Herbal Teas is more than a business – it’s a story of resilience, community, and the power of growing food with care.

This Saturday, join Mzi for **Tea with a Farmer** at Lerotholi Farm in Langa as part of **Food Indaba 2026**. Sip a cup of farm-grown herbal tea, explore the urban farm where it all began, learn about sustainable farming and the Agrihub initiative, and hear Mzi’s inspiring journey firsthand. Afterwards, stay and enjoy the Art Café exhibition at 16 on Lerotholi Gallery.

Tea with a Farmer: Lerotholi Farm, Langa
1 August 2026
14:00–15:15
16 on Lerotholi Gallery

Book your tickets here: https://foodindaba.org/fi26/ (LINK ALSO IN BIO)

HerbalTea LocalFood FoodSystems RegenerativeAgriculture CapeTownEvents

A two-week programme of talks and events that focus on the local food system and the future of food.

28/07/2026

Healthy food starts with healthy soil, and healthy soil starts with water.

Join Melanie Stewart, Farm Manager at Oranjezicht City Farm, for a special Tea with a Farmer experience at Food Indaba 2026. Discover how regenerative farming practices help every drop of water go further, build resilient crops, and strengthen our food system.

Walk the farm, ask your questions, and end the afternoon with a freshly brewed herbal tea made from the farm’s own harvest.

Venue: Oranjezicht City Farm
Date, Sunday, 1 August 2026
Time: 10:00 – 11:15
Cost: R 200 per person (LINK IN BIO)

Come and experience how caring for soil means caring for water, and why that matters for all of us.

OranjezichtCityFarm TeaWithAFarmer HealthySoilHealthyFood

24/07/2026

Meet the makers. Taste the innovation.

The MRKTPLC is coming to Makers Landing on 25 & 26 July!

Discover, sample and shop delicious and innovative products from 15 local agri-processing SMMEs, many of them youth-owned.

Expect everything from sourdough breads, chilli sauces, artisanal jams and atchar to indigenous herbal teas, raw honey, botanical skincare, seedlings, vegetable powders and more!

Come support local makers, discover something new and experience the future of Cape Town’s food system.

Look out for:
Cozy Crumb’s sourdough breads
Ichilli le Langa’s chilli sauce made with ingredients grown in Langa
Brother Nathan Foundation’s Cape Raw Honey and honeycomb
Mzi Herbal Tea’s indigenous plant blends
The Homegrown Collective’s botanical skincare and wellness products
Sedap Handmade Jams and their delicious Hertzoggies
Seeds for Life’s beetroot and spinach powders and vegetable-infused butters
Inner Peas’ vegetable seasonings and seedlings in biodegradable pots
Sebenza Trading Solutions’ gut health tea blends and scones
Aurora Natural Skincare and Wellness’ waterless, vegan African botanical skincare
…and much more from a dynamic group of local makers and innovators.

Venue: Makers Landing
Date: 25–26 July 2026
10:00–17:00
Bring your appetite. Bring your card and cash. Bring a friend.

LocalMakers FoodSystems

24/07/2026

On 21 July, participants joined Food Indaba and the Greater Tygerberg Partnership for a Food System Walking Tour through Bellville, exploring the connections between food, waste, culture, identity and political will.

Beginning at the Sha’p Left Clinic opposite the taxi rank, the walk moved through Bellville’s informal food market, a vibrant Pan-African food hub where participants engaged with traders, learned about the foods being sold and experienced the diverse cultures that shape the city’s food system.

The journey then followed the movement of waste from the market to a waste sorting site, before ending at an urban farm fertilised by organic waste generated at the market.

This circular journey offered a powerful reminder that food systems are not linear. They are shaped by the people who trade, buy, cook, eat, reuse, grow and organise, and by the political will to recognise and support the systems that already sustain our cities.

The tour showcased work being done through the AfriFOODlinks project and the Greater Tygerberg Partnership to develop and support Bellville’s informal food system.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this journey through one of Cape Town’s most important food hubs.

UrbanFoodSystems InformalTrade CircularEconomy UrbanFarming FoodJustice

24/07/2026

How can we unlock the potential of small-scale regenerative agriculture?

For small-scale farmers, the transition to more regenerative practices is not only about what happens on the farm. Access to knowledge, skills, networks and market insights can be just as important in building viable, resilient livelihoods.

At Food Indaba 2026, this conversation explored how skill-sharing and better access to market intelligence can help small-scale farmers navigate changing markets, strengthen their businesses and contribute to more sustainable food systems.

Read the full article, published in Daily Maverick, to learn more about the discussion and the opportunities for supporting small-scale regenerative agriculture.

Read the article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-23-how-skill-sharing-and-market-insights-can-unlock-small-scale-regenerative-agriculture/

22/07/2026

Water scarcity is about far more than pipes, taps and reservoirs. At the Food Indaba 2026 Global South Webinar, we heard how cities like Bengaluru, Mossel Bay, Tamale and Cape Town show that water access is shaped by everyday waiting, negotiation, gendered labour and social networks that keep life going when formal systems fail.

Key takeaways:
* Water access is not the same as water security. Even where households have access to treated water, unreliable supply can mean dependence on boreholes, tankers, water ATMs, storage and other coping strategies.
* Waiting has a cost. In Mossel Bay, residents organise their days around when water will flow, queues and low pressure, affecting cooking, food storage, meals and wellbeing.
* Water insecurity is deeply gendered. Women often carry much of the physical, cognitive and emotional labour of securing, storing and managing water for their households.
* Social networks are part of the infrastructure. Neighbours, families, politicians, NGOs and faith-based organisations all help communities negotiate access and create alternatives when formal systems fall short.
* Water shapes the city. In Tamale, access to reliable water influences property values and urban growth. In Langa, water, sanitation and stormwater requirements helped shape the architecture of a food market.
* Water and food systems are inseparable. Water availability affects how people cook, clean, store food, access food and earn livelihoods.

The overarching message was clear: infrastructure is never simply technical. It is social, political and deeply connected to food, health, dignity and urban inequality.

22/07/2026

What does food reveal about a city?

Today, join us for a walking tour through the heart of Langa’s food system, a journey through policy, trade, market access, supply chains, identity and the tensions shaping the city’s food economy.

Langa may once have been positioned on the margins of Cape Town, but today it occupies a significant central role in the metropolitan food system. Along the way, you’ll meet the people, places and stories that bring Langa’s food system to life, and sample a range of local specialities.

Hear from Mahlubi, your guide for the afternoon, and join us for an experience that will change the way you see food, place and the city.

16 on Lerotholi Gallery, Langa
22 July 2026
14:00–16:00
Ticket: LINK IN BIO

FoodJustice UrbanFoodSystems FoodStories

22/07/2026

Water scarcity is about far more than pipes, taps and reservoirs. At the Food Indaba 2026 Global South Webinar, we heard how cities like Bengaluru, Mossel Bay, Tamale and Cape Town show that water access is shaped by everyday waiting, negotiation, gendered labour and social networks that keep life going when formal systems fail.

Key takeaways:
* Water access is not the same as water security. Even where households have access to treated water, unreliable supply can mean dependence on boreholes, tankers, water ATMs, storage and other coping strategies.
* Waiting has a cost. In Mossel Bay, residents organise their days around when water will flow, queues and low pressure, affecting cooking, food storage, meals and wellbeing.
* Water insecurity is deeply gendered. Women often carry much of the physical, cognitive and emotional labour of securing, storing and managing water for their households.
* Social networks are part of the infrastructure. Neighbours, families, politicians, NGOs and faith-based organisations all help communities negotiate access and create alternatives when formal systems fall short.
* Water shapes the city. In Tamale, access to reliable water influences property values and urban growth. In Langa, water, sanitation and stormwater requirements helped shape the architecture of a food market.
* Water and food systems are inseparable. Water availability affects how people cook, clean, store food, access food and earn livelihoods.

The overarching message was clear: infrastructure is never simply technical. It is social, political and deeply connected to food, health, dignity and urban inequality.

18/07/2026

On Mandela Day, we are reminded that dignity, justice and resilience are deeply connected, and so are water and food.

In an op-ed published by Daily Maverick, Kurt Ackermann makes the case that South Africa must govern water and food as one system, not as separate crises.

It is a timely read on why solving hunger, inequality and climate vulnerability starts with integrated thinking.

Read it here: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-16-why-water-and-food-must-be-governed-as-one-system-in-sa/