Herbanisation
Full Solution
Herbanisation Planting Team
Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation
Herbanisation is an open access, medicinal street garden project in Cape Town, South Africa. The project aims to green streetscapes in economically marginalized areas while contributing to the livelihoods of local Rasta/Khoi herbalists and reconnecting community members with medicinal plants. Herbanisation gardens currently include 1,600 plants in Seawinds, Cape Town, and are set to reach 4,500 by mid-2015.
Last update: 24 Feb 2022
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Context
Challenges addressed
reconciling stakeholders and connecting communities with local nature
Herbanisation is an attempt to build communication between antagonistic stakeholders in the conservation and use of medicinal plants in Cape Town while connecting people with local nature.The open access, medicinal street gardens created as part of the solution are situated in economically marginalised areas of the city which are often faced with high unemployment, gangsterism, and poor health.
Location
Cape Town, South Africa
East and South Africa
Process
Summary of the process
1. The establishment of relationships with local champions is preceded by a long-term engagement in a neighbourhood or community. This presence in the area allows communication, shared understanding and trust to unfold and for potential champions to be identified. 2. Once all the partners in the project are aware of the obstacles faced, a roadmap can be sketched toward a solution - in this case, a series of gardens. 3. The process of planning, preparing and planting the gardens serves as a vehicle to engage local champions with other key individuals in government, the neighbourhood and associated organisations. 4. Using open access principles invites further engagement from people in the area with the gardens. These direct interactions meet our aim of connecting people to local nature through plants, building relationships and improving health and wellbeing.
Building Blocks
Work with local champions
Our project was born out of a partnership between the Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation and Neville van Schalkwyk, an accomplished gardener and Rasta herbalist elder in Seawinds. Working and developing relationships with established, respected and dependable individuals is key to project longevity and success. The purpose of this building block is to ensure project relevance to the local community or involved bodies, since the champion is situation in the socioeconomic, ecological, or institutional reality of the project site. The champion also acts as an interface or translator between the neighbourhood community, project partners and other stakeholders. This same building block approach works when attempting to link and build communication between stakeholders. For example, we introduced Neville to an influential member of a provincial conservation organisation who we knew through previous work. He was then able to introduce Neville to other people and resources in the conservation sector.
Enabling factors
The development of personal relationships, clear communication, and horizontal power relations are some of the most important enabling factors when working with local champions on a project. The local champion acts as the interface between the partner organisations or groups and the community in the local area. Therefore, it is imperative that the needs, goals, and vision for the project are clearly communicated.
Lesson learned
Relationships with local champions must be built with a long-term vision in mind and must be founded on mutual respect, with humility being shown from the outset by those initiating the work towards a solution. Equally important in the process is honesty regarding the possibility of receiving funding, since unclear communication may lead to unrealistic expectations , disappointment or frustration. Another aspect to consider when working with local champions is to avoid making assumptions whenever possible. This is particularly true when working with people from different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds whose understandings or interpretations of processes and events may differ from your own.
Use gardens as vehicles
Planting activities and garden maintenance events are designed to open up spaces for diverse stakeholders, as well as individuals and group representatives, to come together to work side-by-side towards a common goal. In the act of digging holes, working the soil, and planting, perceptions of individuals may be shifted as people engage with one another in conversation and come to recognise their shared humanity. This can be a powerful process for breaking down barriers and antagonisms that may exist between groups or individuals due to prior blanket judgments, ignorance or misunderstanding.
Enabling factors
In order for this building block to be successful, it is important to consider which groups and individuals to invite to the gardens for visits or specific events, as well as various strategies to help ensure their attendance. In the case of planting days, activities must be structured to encourage communication and teamwork towards a common goal. A further aspect to consider is the role of the media in bringing attention to the project.
Lesson learned
Connecting key individuals within groups, communities and institutions can lead to rapid establishment of relationships and the sharing of information and resources, often far beyond any initial expectations. Through such strategic linkages, garden activities can soon become catalytic and spread with minor additional inputs.
Apply open access principles
Garden projects with centralized control and restricted access often fail as the result of political disputes, the loss of a key member or driver of the project, or a lack of funding. At the same time, they establish a politics of access: who can access the resources and how are they shared? We have taken an open-access approach, planting our medicinal gardens on degraded and readily-accessible land. This allows anyone to harvest from the medicinal plants as they require them, either for the treatment of themselves or others, or to sell as a means of supporting their livelihood. There is a certain vulnerability to this approach, considering that the plants can be destroyed by individuals or animals. However, we believe that the potential benefits outweigh the disadvantages of such an approach.
Enabling factors
The reasons behind the gardens, and the fact that local people are able and encouraged to use the plants, must be clearly communicated to people in the area. Local people are more likely to use the gardens and do their part to ensure their continued growth and maintenance if they feel a sense of ownership. This sense of ownership can be encouraged by teaching people the value of the various plants as medicines and how to use them. We hope with time that this knowledge becomes locally situated and passed on to future generations.
Lesson learned
Even when the gardens are created without fences or boundaries, and are easily accessible by the public, people in the area may still require encouragement or seek permission to utilise the plants. We learned this in the beginning of the project, when neighbours would ask Neville each time before they harvested from the garden. We realised it was important to communicate to people in the area that the garden was theirs to use. This was done through personal communication and signage. We also learned that it is important to reflect on movements and pathways used by people in the area so as to design the garden according to the existing patterns of mobility. One mistake we made was not leaving a pathway between the road and the fence facing the local soccer field. Children ran through the garden to watch the soccer games happening on the other side of the fence, partially destroying the plants in their path.
Impacts
1. Herbanisation has already resulted in groundbreaking engagement between Rasta herbalists, conservation bodies and local botanical organisations. In addition, the project is strengthening linkages between park activities and urban conservation efforts, making local nature a key driver of urban renewal efforts. 2. Many Seawinds residents and local traditional healers harvest from the Herbanisation street gardens in order to treat themselves and their families. Not only does this contribute to the health and wellbeing of the local community, it also empowers individuals to take their health into their own hands and to feel proud of their role as indigenous knowledge bearers. 3. The Seawinds garden site is currently home to the Cape Dwarf chameleon (rare), Western Leopard Toad (endangered) and Cape Flats Conebush (critically endangered), demonstrating a clear positive impact for local biodiversity. Herbanisation also contributes to local biocultural resilience.
Beneficiaries
Seawinds residents, of low income Cape Flats township in Cape Town Rasta/Khoi herbalists
Story
The Herbanisation planting event in July 2014 brought together a wide group of herbalists, Rastas, conservation professionals, environmental activists and local residents in a collaborative effort to build a lasting positive impact with respect to local nature. Regardless of their individual motives for attending the day – to grow more herbs for markets, plant indigenous species or create green spaces in otherwise neglected urban landscapes; the project was able to initiative important and potentially lasting linkages between these worlds. Through such linkages the ongoing processes of conserving unique biodiversity and fostering cultural and economic needs can be addressed. The project serves as a pilot, but equally demonstrated to many participants for the first time that their interests have more in common than they initially thought. For Neville and the Khoi-Rastas this has meant, for the first time, that their voices have been considered and that their story as (little considered) indigenous people can be brought to the light of day. For Rasta individuals such as Benji who trade with medicinal plants every day, it was a chance to see the perspectives of others and gain better understanding of a country that commonly views their practices and behaviour to be at best, eccentric, and at worst criminal. Conversely the day revealed to conservation officials the true nature of the identity and life of the Khoi-Rastas, and how their cultural outlook is a positive impact compared to the rife social decay and criminality that surrounds their communities, and that they share a love for nature that runs deeper than many had previously considered. Neville has since met with many conservation groups including Cape Nature and City of Cape Town Conservation – organisations that have traditionally avoided such interactions. He has given presentations, taken tour groups around the garden and instructed university students on aspects of Khoi life and herbalism from a unique and genuine perspective. Herbanisation has taken a powerful voice in the Khoi Commmunity and given it reach into mainstream Cape Town, which brings about the kinds of changes necessary for building an inclusive South Africa and sows the seeds of genuine efforts towards sustainable development.
