Over the years, we have come to know your navigator Mahlubi Zibi pretty well. He has always shown a complete and tireless engagement towards the people of Langa. Since you left, we had several opportunities through some Reciprocity research assignments to remain in touch with him, and saw firsthand how committed he was to the food garden you visited on the premises of the St Francis church. Nevertheless, we couldn’t hide our delight when Mahlubi told us he was now the new chairman of the AgriHub Langa.

We are very confident that Mahlubi’s undisputed charisma, leadership and analytical skills will have a tangible impact on AgriHub Langa and that he will ensure that the work he has done with the Brown IE team is implemented and carried to fruition. You have established an honest and informed diagnostic of the current situation of the food gardens of Langa, of the difficulties providing the necessary skills and tools, of changing attitudes and behaviours, of the gap and mismatch between a crude reality on the ground and the picture and vision relayed by the Fairfood initiative (or South Africa Urban Food & Farming Trust).

In your research, you pointed out Regenerative Farming Knowledge, Soil Health, Infrastructure, and Community Demographic as challenges to implementing the trust’s vision. We could hear from Mahlubi the impact the team’s assessment had. This diagnostic was in our view necessary to implement a very realistic and pragmatic strategy that can only benefit Langa.

We look forward to continue following up with Mahlubi over the next months.