Higher Ground Africa (HGA) is an online urban gardening community that encourages a more connected way of living and healing holistically in the community, especially in times of physical disconnect. The project promotes small-scale urban gardening, indigenous knowledge systems, and human connectedness to support psycho-social development. Its Sun-Day Gatherings are intimate tours of urban farms and gardens in Johannesburg that showcase the city’s indigenous food economy, highlighting herbs and indigenous plants not available in supermarkets.
The Sun-Day Gatherings unfold in three parts: (i) Sunday gatherings to connect inner-city farms to new customers, supporters and a community of social entrepreneurs; (ii) Garden and Learn, where volunteers work with Mama Fifi at her inner-city farm, Bertrams, in exchange for learning about organic gardening and sharing a meal made from the farm’s produce; and (iii) Handmade With Spirt-In-Mind, a gathering for tapping into local indigenous knowledge systems to create works with clay.
The project demonstrates the power of connecting contemporary Africa to nature, farming and collective healing, and the eco-therapy economic potential in the city.
What has been achieved
- Food healing in the community, with volunteers helping in the urban gardens and farms, and then cooking and sharing the produce harvested.
- Connecting urban and township farmers to markets (new customers) through farm tours and digital content.
- The development of a small collaborative and engaged value chain within the youth green economy, including farms, restaurants and eco-therapy venues.
Alignment with IUDF
- Inclusion and access: bringing attention to the urban food economy and the potential benefits of the integrated township and inner-city economies.
- Growth: opportunities to create jobs for local farmers and creatives in the green economy value chain
- Spatial integration: stimulating and promoting the use of urban land for farming and investing in productivity, sustainable development and integrated community economies
Stakeholders
Civil Society: Re-imagined Learning Centre (NGO)
Business: Bertrams Inner City Farm, Exotically Divine Indigenous Cuisine (restaurant), indigenous traders and practitioners as stockists
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