Siyakhana

Siyakhana is a change agent for promoting health, transforming communities and enhancing environments.

South Africa is in the midst of a food insecurity crisis: many go to bed hungry; a lack of dietary diversity leads to detrimental health outcomes such as diabetes and obesity; and micronutrient deficiencies cause stunting in children, which compromises future academic ability. What is needed is a change agent that uproots old ideas and changes how we think, learn and practice urban food farming. And Siyakhana unequivocally achieves all of this: we tackle problems head on, offer a range of training courses, build trust and apply appropriate methods and technology. Although Siyakhana may be perceived as being in the business of ‘plants’, we’re actually in the business of people, partnerships and potential. Essentially we’re working to promote health and enhance environments in which we live and we do this through networking with people in government, business and local communities, as well as collaborating with corporates, NGOs, Universities and schools.

The Siyakhana Food Garden, our flagship project, is regarded as one of the most successful urban food gardens in the wider Johannesburg metropole, as well as a hallmark of intersectoral collaboration. This is largely because of its mission to make far-reaching impacts at local, provincial, and national levels. We utilize a permaculture farming approach. Permaculture is a design system focused on creating sustainable human habitats modeled on natural, ecological patterns and processes. Permaculture integrates nature, land, buildings and people harmoniously. The result is a sustainable supply of food, medicine, energy, shelter and other needs.

The Siyakhana Food Garden is not simply a food garden where you can buy your weekly organic greens; it also serves as a platform for other activities that address the following five key objectives:

• Improving availability of a wide variety of good and nutritious food
• Conducting relevant and appropriate action-research that is influencing policy and strategies
• Offering training to develop capacity among emerging leaders in the area of food gardens and sustainable livelihoods
• Engaging in advocacy and networking activities
• Achieving financial sustainability through a self-funding social entrepreneurship model