2011 – 2021 | iZindaba Zokudla (Conversations About Food)

“… the role of the designer is to create dialogue, that’s the only thing that works. The more people, the more we need to talk, to hear each other, to learn to argue with each other. The role of a project is sometimes to simply create a dialogue. It’s not the result, it’s what type of dialogue I managed to create around the project. I think the value of dialogue is rising compared to the value of production. We went from the value of design [being] the number of parts you will be selling at the end… tomorrow the value of design will be how important the dialogue you managed to create, between how many stakeholders, with which social and cultural differences, on what scale.” Antoine Fenoglio, Designer and founder of Sismo, Paris.

iZindaba Zokudla (Conversations about Food) – Innovation in the Soweto Food System is a multi-stakeholder engagement project that aims to create a more sustainable food system in Johannesburg through urban agriculture. The main project convenor is Dr Naudé Malan, Senior Lecturer, Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg (UJ), with myself as a co-founder of the project back in 2011. The project has been funded by the South African National Research Foundation (NRF); UJ University Research Committee; and the UJ Teaching Innovation Fund.

Overview:

iZindaba Zokudla is a research project that draws on Multi-Stakeholder Engagement and Participatory Action Research methods to create opportunities for sustainable urban agriculture in local food systems. It has been active since October 2013 when it held its first workshop in Soweto. iZindaba Zokudla is in essence a series of social innovation and multi-stakeholder events wherein action plans can be developed, implemented and reflected upon. All action plans are executed by stakeholders, and iZindaba Zokudla is an institutional innovation wherein this can be done (Malan 2018). It is a means to coordinate civil society, university, stakeholder and state action for food systems change.

References:

Project Partners:

Focus Areas based on Multi-stakeholder Input:
iZindaba Zokudla embarked on a series of multi-stakeholder workshops in 2013 that have led to the creation of specific areas of focus:

  1. The creation of a farmers’ market: The Soweto Imvelo Market (SIM) was launched for local farmers to sell their produce to local consumers at the end of 2014 by a local community organization, the Region D Farmers’ Forum.
  2. Participatory Technology Development: Through a design research process of initial needs assessment and Human-Centred Design in participation with local urban farmers, a range of appropriate technologies have been developed to increase the potential of urban farming in Soweto and Johannesburg. Prototypes included, in 2013, a Single Household Farming Kit (greenhouse, rain capture, irrigation, seeds and a multi-hoe tool); and a portable biochar kiln. Thus far two products have provisionally been patented a seedling growing system and an off-grid food storage system. In 2015 we developed a human-powered shredder for mulching and composting and a user-friendly beehive to promote urban apiary. This component of the project will also lead into the Farmers’ School where we will demonstrate and disseminate various DIY Open Source and easily producible technologies to aid urban farmers (a DIY water pump, a DIY tunnel and DIY drip irrigation)
  3. School Gardens and security of tenure: A series of facilitated workshops were held at the end of 2014 between the Department of Education, school garden farmers’ and school principals to develop a manual to guide the process of school gardening and ultimately improve the security of tenure of school gardeners.
  4. The creation of a Farmers’ School: iZindaba Zokudla assisted in the organisation, facilitation and evaluation of a Farmers’ School and the creation of training opportunities for urban farmers in Soweto. The school was launched on 16 May 2015 with over 200 local urban farmers in attendance and continues monthly at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto Campus.

For more information on iZindaba Zokudla please contact Dr Naudé Malan or visit the iZindaba Zokudla Facebook Page or Website.

Selected Outcomes:

  • https://www.izindabazokudla.com/

  • Malan, N., Campbell, A.D., Sibeko, J., van Zyl, C. & Benecke, R. 2015. Service Learning for Food Security: The Izindaba Zokudla Experience. The Fourth Conference of the South African Development Studies Association (2015): Development in Troubled Times. Port Elizabeth: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 12 October.

  • Campbell, A.D. & Harrison, P.H. 2015. A Framework for Socio-Technical Innovation: The Case of a Human-Powered Shredder. In Collina, L., Galluzzo, L. & Meroni, A (Eds). Proceedings of the Cumulus Conference, Milano 2015: The Virtuous Circle: Design Culture and Experimentation . Milan: McGraw Hill, 3-7 June, pp. 211-230.

  • Brand, K.G. & Campbell, A.D. 2014. In-context and Ecology Immersion for Resilience: An Exploration of the Design of a Household Farming Kit. Proceedings of 25th International Union of Architects World Congress: Architecture Otherwhere. Durban: UIA, pp.1332-1343.

  • Malan, N. & Campbell, A.D. 2014. Design Social Change and Development: A Social Methodology. Proceeding of Cumulus Johannesburg: Design with the Other 90%: Changing the World by Design . Johannesburg: Cumulus, pp. 94-101.

  • The launch of the iZindaba Zokudla Farmers’ School at the University of Johannesburg, Soweto Campus, 2015-05-16: