2019 — 2022
Mandlakazi Food Security Project
Three community crèche gardens grew into a practical system for training, food production, water harvesting and local plant propagation.
Read the case study
Imbewu Yoshintso · Seed of Change
Growing resilience, from the soil up.
We restore degraded landscapes through permaculture and regenerative agriculture — improving ecosystems, feeding communities, and extending conservation far beyond reserve boundaries.
Scroll
Our Mission
The well-being of people and the health of the land are intimately linked — heal one, and you begin to heal the other.
At Imbewu Yoshintso, our mission is to offer young students across Africa permaculture and regenerative-agriculture internships and mentorship — and to develop perennial agricultural systems, such as food forests, that restore degraded ecosystems through better land stewardship.
By restoring landscapes, we improve the ecosystem services that mitigate climate change while supplying communities with vital resources to improve their socio-economic situation. This, in turn, reduces stress on our most vulnerable conservation areas.
We work hand-in-hand with the communities around Manyoni Private Game Reserve, building living demonstration sites — repositories of best practice that feed people today and teach the stewards of tomorrow.
Our goal is to provide a rewarding, professional experience for the funders and donors who partner with us — and to become as independent as possible from ongoing funding over time.
A Story From The Ground
Mandlakazi
Three crèche gardens. Water storage, protected beds, and a place to learn by doing.
The Mandlakazi records follow the gardens, practical training and plant propagation from 2019 to 2022. See the photographs, project reports and the people behind the work.
Read the Mandlakazi case study
How We Work
Three roots of lasting change.
Every project we run grows from the same regenerative principles — restore the land, grow food sovereignty, and pass on the knowledge.
01
Restore
We rehabilitate degraded ecosystems with indigenous trees and plants, rebuilding soil, water cycles and biodiversity across the broader landscape.
02
Grow
We build food gardens, food forests and market gardens that supply creches and clinics, sell surplus locally, and return value to the community.
03
Mentor
We give young African students hands-on internships in permaculture and regenerative agriculture — growing the next generation of land stewards.
From the field to your phone
Meet ImbewuField.
Our field experience, built into a practical tool for growers and programme teams.
Plan the land, learn the next task, record the harvest and keep mentorship connected. We are piloting ImbewuField on African Conservation Trust’s Social Employment Fund (ACT SEF) programme. The app is in active development, with selected workflows available offline.
Project case studies
The places behind the work.
Explore the gardens, water systems and plant propagation behind the Mandlakazi and Manyoni programmes.
2021 — 2022
Manyoni Market Garden & Indigenous Nursery
Two adjacent growing systems: an indigenous and food-plant nursery, and a rainwater-linked organic market garden.
Read the case study
Mandlakazi delivery · 2019–2021 · aerial record to June 2022
Ubhejane Crèche
A crèche garden in KwaZulu-Natal with municipal water storage, swales, protected vegetable beds and a propagation nursery, documented from 2019 to 2022.
Read the case study
Mandlakazi programme · 2019–2021
Mzomoyethu Crèche · Gudlintaba
A crèche garden on a dry, gravelly site, with swales, a holding pond, protected growing areas and measured irrigation.
Read the case study
Beyond The Boundary
We extend conservation past reserve fences — into the communities who live alongside the wild.
3
Community crèche gardens with rain tanks
41
Household records in the Mandlakazi baseline
800 m²
Protected Manyoni food tunnel completed
4
Propagation areas in the Manyoni nursery
Documented in programme records from 2020–2022. Read the case studies.
In Partnership With
African Conservation Trust
Zululand Conservation Trust
Manyoni Private Game Reserve
Stichting Roots Up Foundation
Help Us Grow
Every contribution puts down roots.
Your support plants indigenous trees, builds food gardens, and trains young land stewards across KwaZulu-Natal. Partner with us, and watch resilience grow.
Section 18A — tax-deductible
Registered PBO 930081882