Our Work
Two decades of IMPACT IN AFRICA:
Bridging the gap between PEOPLE PLANET PLATE across South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique and Zambia.
From emergency food relief during South Africa's 2020 lockdown to regenerative rangeland programmes spanning six African countries, Harvesting Heritage's work has always followed one guiding question: what becomes possible when PEOPLE, PLANET, and PLATE are treated as one?
The answer, over two decades, has been remarkable.
PEOPLE:
Socio-Economic Empowerment & Strategic Value Chains
We believe that economic transformation begins at the most local level be it a food garden, a bakery, a communal livestock farmer who understands their own value chain. Our PEOPLE work spans community development, youth empowerment, farmer training, and the creation of economic pathways rooted in dignity and aspiration.
Highlights include co-founding Chefs with Compassion during South Africa's 2020 lockdown (rescuing surplus food to serve millions of meals to vulnerable communities). Emergency food interventions in KwaZulu-Natal following the 2021 riots, where we spent ten days teaching communities to establish food gardens and launch home bakery businesses. A broad-based livelihoods programme with SocioTech reaching more than 700 villages and 15,000 people annually across South Africa. Mentoring 60 youth from Alexandra and Soweto through culinary certifications and business-in-a-box training in partnership with YES and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. Value chain analyses for communal farmers in Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, and Zambia (opening access to high-value markets for producers who had never had that opportunity).
Our PEOPLE work is never about giving people what they lack. It is about helping them see and build on what they already have.
PLANET:
Regenerative Agri-Business & Ecosystems
Healthy land and thriving communities are not in competition - they are the same project. Our PLANET work spans regenerative rangeland management, indigenous crop systems, ethical wildlife protocols, and the policy and governance frameworks that make land stewardship sustainable over the long term.
We developed and implemented South Africa's first ethical hunting protocols for the game meat industry, in partnership with Conservation Outcomes and WWF, training more than 150 people across cull teams, abattoir staff, chefs, and cooks. We served as technical advisor to the United Nations Development Programme's Mountain Product Partnership in Lesotho. We conducted regenerative herding analyses for communal livestock farmers in the Northern Cape, and implemented Harvesting Heritage's sustainability assessment framework across Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa in 2025. We are currently supporting the Herding for Health programme with Meat Naturally Africa, Conservation International, and Peace Parks Foundation across various Southern Africa countries, one of the most significant regenerative rangeland programmes on the continent.
When the land thrives, communities thrive. That is not a philosophy - it is something we have watched happen, again and again, across six countries and two decades.
PLATE:
Gastronomy & Heritage Advocacy
The PLATE is where the People and Planet work becomes visible, tangible, and (most importantly) delicious. Our gastronomy and heritage advocacy work creates the cultural moments that shift how people understand and value Africa's extraordinary food heritage.
In 2023 we hosted the first ever Harvesting Heritage Culinary Competition in partnership with Nederburg where ten chefs competing to create fine dining dishes from indigenous and heritage ingredients, judged by more than 1,000 members of the public and a panel of World Chefs accredited judges. The event featured the first ever wine pairing of Sotho and Pedi indigenous ingredients, curated by celebrated sommelier Moses Magwaza in partnership with Nederburg. That same year we hosted South Africa's first pastry competition using heritage and indigenous ingredients, in partnership with the Saxon Hotel and Jordan Wines. We have organised four specialised gastronomy and cultural tours for international Masters students from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy - taking them through Johannesburg, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo and the Western Cape. We have presented at Switch Africa Green in Kenya, Uganda and Mauritius, at the Slow Food International Council in Italy, and at universities, festivals, and industry events across South Africa.
Every event, every competition, every knowledge tour carries the same intention: to put the stories of Africa's food heritage on the plate - and let people taste what is possible.
PURPOSE:
Sustainability & Governance
Harvesting Heritage's philosophy only creates lasting change when the organisations and communities we work with have the governance, strategy, and financial structures to sustain it. Our PURPOSE work brings rigorous technical expertise to the organisations, foundations, and programmes that are serious about long-term impact.
We have assisted a major foundation in drafting its Articles of Association and governance structure — an organisation with funding commitments from more than 100 companies, aiming to improve the lives of one million people over five years. We developed Theory of Change and MERL frameworks for development programmes, business development plans for communal farmers across four countries, and strategic business gearing for organisations including Meat Naturally Africa and Fleece Naturally. We have developed training and facilitation toolkits, livestock and agro-processing training modules, and value chain analyses for communal farmer associations from Zamibia to KwaZulu-Natal.
Good intentions without good structure rarely last. We bring the same passion, rigour, and deep respect for people to governance and strategy as we do to every farmer, every landscape, and every plate .... because the most beautiful vision in the world needs a strong foundation beneath it, and lasting change deserves nothing less.
This is not a portfolio. It is a PRACTICE and one that has been refined across two decades, eight countries, and thousands of shared meals. And it is far from finished.