Under the theme “Cultivating Resilience: Growing Food, Knowledge, and Community” Lipato I Umpheki from Eastern Cape presented a Food Pop-Up with a curated Long Table menu and an exhibition, which was followed by a panel discussion with different experts under the same theme. The Food Pop-Up explored the transformative power of food-growing practices rooted in agroecology, community-led initiatives and indigenous knowledge. It brought together diverse voices and experiences to examine how cultivating food can serve as a form of resistance, healing, and resilience in the face of ecological and social crises.

The panel discussion was moderated by Inolofatseng Lekaba, who engaged with the invited speakers around topics like land and community, indigenous knowledge and agroecology, transdisciplinary practices as well as food security versus sovereignty. The final question highlighted the needed tangible actions that a community or an individual can do to ensure systems to change towards sustainability.

The workshop facilitated by Plenty Green and S.O.I.L constituted a more practical and hands-on event aiming to introduce participants to practical urban gardening techniques suited for small spaces. The workshop explored sustainable approaches such as permaculture, container gardening, and companion planting, equip participants with hands-on skills they can replicate at home and foster dialogue around greening cities, ecological sustainability, and cultural engagement.

Plenty Green is a garden consultancy offering regenerative farming, permaculture and edible landscaping solutions.

S.O.I.L is as green business active in farming and selling organic products. They focus is to promote indigenous ways of growing food using permaculture methods.

The screening of the documentary film “Toxic Harvest” was organized in partnership with the Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation, being the producer of the film as part of their Food Sovereignty Programme. “Toxic Harvest” a gripping documentary feature film that uncovers the devastating and far-reaching impacts of agrotoxins, highlighting the use of highly hazardous pesticides in South Africa. Shot with unflinching honesty, it reveals how agrotoxins poison the environment by contaminating the soil, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat affecting us all. 
The film was followed by a short panel discussion with the co-producer from Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation, Siphiwe Sithole and Mariam Mayet.

Refiloe Joala is a researcher and programme manager specialising in African food systems. With over a decade in the development sector, she has led and contributed to numerous research projects and consultancies focused on agro-food system transformations in Southern Africa, food and land rights, and climate change.

Siphiwe Sithole is a versatile entrepreneur who left the corporate world to start African Marmalade, where she farms indigenous African produce and inspires other growers to follow her example. African Marmalade currently owns an extensive seed bank of both indigenous and non-indigenous organic seeds and planting material.  

Mariam Mayet is an international leader in the sustainable food movement. She founded the African Centre for Biodiversity in 2003 and under her leadership, this research and advocacy organisation has played a catalysing role in the food sovereignty struggles on the African continent. The ACB works in coalition with groups on seed sovereignty policy, and in opposition to unsustainable food systems rooted in industrial agriculture, especially genetic engineering of seed and crops.

The panel discussion centered around “Building more Sustainable and Juster Food Systems” was hosted at the Dibukafé in Braamfontain, an event space and library of the French Institut of South Africa.

The panel explored how South Africa can move toward a more sustainable and socially just food system, examining the concept of a Just Transition in relation to food production, nutrition, and land justice. Speakers discussed how climate change both impacts and is intensified by the current food system, highlighting the need for agroecology, indigenous crops, and regenerative practices. A central focus was on how structural inequalities—such as land dispossession, corporate monopolies, gendered food labour, and precarious agricultural work—shape food insecurity. The discussion also examined the role of the state, communities, and technology in transforming the system, asking what policy frameworks and grassroots actions are necessary to build equitable, climate-resilient food futures.

The Long Table was a collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Pretoria and took place at the African Marmalade Farm in Laezonia, Gauteng. The culinary gathering stood under the topic Slow Food Movement and its role in promoting more sustainable and juster food systems. The culinary aspect of the Long Table Session was curated by Culinary Pantsula, a well-known chef bridging soul food experiences with indigenous and modern ingredients and a touch of conscious haute cuisine. The Long Table was moderated by Inolofatseng Lekaba who kept the discussion alive and invited our special guests Amanda Lorena Romero Ferrer, a member of the soul food movement, and Siphiwe Sithole from African Marmalade Farms to share about their work in the realm of Slow Food and alternative conscious farming.

The panel discussion explored how artists, chefs, activists and cultural practitioners can challenge dominant narratives and reimagine food systems through art and storytelling. Speakers discussed how culinary creativity, artistic practice, and narrative work can catalyse community healing, amplify marginalised voices, and build movements for systemic change in the face of inequalities embedded in global and local food systems. The conversation highlighted food’s political potential - how it shapes identity, strengthens collective resilience, and contributes to more just and sustainable futures. The discussion highlighted how these practices amplify marginalised voices, foster community resilience, and inspire systemic change

The panel was yet again moderated by Inolofatseng Lekaba who engaged with three visitionary women.

Chef Noni is a culinary innovator and indigenous food activist who reconnects communities with ancestral food traditions through foraging, forgotten practices, and ritual. She leads Noni’s Fire Food Experience and founded Emandulo Livity, fostering healing and sustainability rooted in indigenous knowledge.

Madison Bannon is an activist, organiser, and storyteller who translates complex issues—from racial and gender justice to climate and neo‑colonial economics—into narratives that inspire collective action. She focuses on food sovereignty and advocates for radical systems change grounded in community care and sustainability.

Tammy Langtry is a Johannesburg-based curator and cultural producer whose work explores historical sense-making through memory, psychology, and cultural activism. She teaches at Wits University, edits for Ellipses Journal, and curates projects that examine critical histories, including indigenous grains and the colonial Durban System.

Same as abvoce. write as a review, incl. past tense and speakers