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< Back to all guests #2 Jacendra (Jesse) Naidoo - About the most exciting time of his life, bringing an engineer's approach to waste, thoughts on Shared Value vs Shareholder Value and a mention of the New Capitalist Manifesto 14 January 2024 FIND BELOW 1 Guest Bio 2 Episode Description 3 Show Notes 4 Time Stamps 5 Transcript 1 Guest Bio Jesse Naidoo holds a Master in Business Leadership from the Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) , an academic college within the University of South Africa (Unisa). He has over 20 years of corporate experience in various senior executive positions in telecommunications, engineering, telecommunications engineering consulting, project management, relationship sales, sales management, commercial management, marketing management and business management. In 2011 he started Clothes to Good (CTG), a multi-award winning clothing recycling company that creates jobs, starts micro-businesses and empowers the unemployed, with a special focus on people living with disabilities. In addition, Jesse is actiely pursuing the use of digital technology that will enable CTG to track the life of every item, from the point of collection to its recycled, upcycled or downcycled state. In the long run this means that producers can be held more accountable to fund the recycling of textile waste. He is also eagerly awaiting the technology that is becoming available in the emerging field of biochemical fibre recycling processes , which will reduce the complexity of textile recycling by breaking textiles down into their separate (mostly non-organic) components. The more this complexity is reduced, the more recycling will increase. 2 Episode Description Where others see mountains of waste when looking at discarded clothes, Jesse Naidoo sees major opportunities. Opportunities to resell, upcycle, downcycle and anything else that can be engineered to extend the life of garments and keep them away from landfills - the world’s oldest form of waste disposal. In this episode, Jesse shares his journey from the heart of South Africa’s corporate world, to building a social enterprise dealing with textile waste. Jesse takes us on the step-by-step journey of a pair of recycled pants, and the kind of business thinking required to make the recycling of pants a sustainable activity. He questions the longevity of the continued dominance of shareholder value, and discusses the alternative of ‘shared value’ that can result in a more circular economy. 3 Show Notes 04:57 Centurion lies outside of Midrand, halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria, in the Gauteng Province. 25:07 Clothes to Good partner Afrika Tikkun 25:55 Unbelievably, South Africa has no definition or legal framework for social enterprises or social entrepreneurship in the country. Read more in this 2016 ILO scoping study , the useful 2016 UCT Guide to Legal Forms for Social Enterprises in South Africa and in this 2018 GIBS report . 31:27 The Orange Farm community is a semi-rural, undeveloped area 40km (25 miles) south of Johannesburg. It is one of the largest informal settlements in South Africa, with most estimates giving a population of 1 million people. For more info, read this . 34:03 H&M and Clothes to Good 'Mother of Children with Disabilities Micro-Business Programme 36:49 Nim Nims were created at the Tommy Hilfiger Design Sprint Challenge . In 2021 Clothes to Good was awarded the audience prize at the Tommy Hilfiger World Frontier Fashion challenge . It was also shortlisted as one of the top six programmes from 430 applications from around the world. 44:56 South Africa's unemployment statistics Q2 2023 ; Unemployment rate in South Africa from Q1 2019 to Q2 2023 by age group 46:00 Friedman introduced his theory on shareholder value in a 1970 New York Times article, titled, A Friedman Doctrine: The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits . Worth reading! 54:47 Umair Haque's The New Capitalist Manifesto, building a disruptively better business was published in 2011 and is both a critiqe of the current capitalist system as well as an exploration of alternative ways of conducting capitalism in the future 53:38 Original 2011 Harvard Business Review article , Shared Value - how to reinvent capitalism and unleash a wave of innovation and growth by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer 4 Time Stamps 02:46 Jesse’s early corporate career in the early 1990s 09:25 The need to keep products out of landfill 10:11 The extent of the dumping problem globally and the realities of microfibre pollution found in our bodies. Global commitment to eliminate production of plastic in fashion by 2050 13:36 The kilogram - the unit of measurement for textile waste and its power to eventually hold producers accountable 16:30 What happens to a pair of pants handed in to H&M 16:59 First audit to see what can be reused 19:53 Recycling plastics into paving blocks 21:23 New developments in sorting 23:54 40% of clothes can be reused in current form 24:01 Clothes to Good’s three dreams: creating micro-businesses, creating employment for people with disabilites, and creating processes that are good for the environment 25:15 Creation of micro-businesses for mothers of children with disabilities 27:15 The difference between a social enterprise and the traditional approach to business 31:17 Stigmatised mothers of children with disabilities running their own microbusiness 35:55 Next steps: upcycling and downcycling 41:23 Challenges of funding 43:05 The growing interest and involvement of youth in this sector 5 Episode Transcript AfricanOptimist#2_Jesse Naidoo_Transcription .pdf Download PDF • 130KB Back to top ^ Videos Jesse's TEDx Johannesburg talk The fashion revolution: turning trash to treasure The Story of Clothes to Good Levi's & Clothes to Good collaborate for good Watch Jesse @09:22 in CNN's African Designers making sustainability fashionable Some interesting background info Designing Climate Compatible Industrial Strategies for South Africa: The Textiles Value Chain , South African Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies Series, August 2022 Textile recycling processes, state of the art and current developments: A mini review , in Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy , Special Issue: Recycling, Vol 37, issue 2, 2019 Connect with Jesse and Clothes to Good

< Back to all guests 04 February 2024 #4 GG Alcock - how the informal economy can disrupt the formal economy, how humans are not dots and slashes and how we are incentivised to be successful not brave Find below 1 Guest Bio 2 Episode Description 3 Show Notes 4 Time Stamps 5 Transcript 1 Guest Bio GG Alcock provides advisory services on the inner workings of 'Kasinomics', a hybrid slang term for township economies ( kasi meaning township, short for lokasie ( Afrikaans for location ) and informal economies. He was the former CEO of the specialist marketing company Minanawe for over 20 years, which led mass marketing and mass activations in this informal space. He and his team used their combined street smarts and intimacy with township life and culture to create numerous campaigns that rolled out in these areas post-1994 - South Africa’s first year of democracy - before the company was sold to French multinational Publicis. GG’s services have been used by local and multi-national companies to help them gain a foothold in the untapped markets of townships, especially as these urban areas emerged from the economic constraints placed on black business owners during apartheid. His extensive experiences across various townships have been captured in his two books, Kasinomics and Kasinomic Revolution (both published by Johannesburg-based TraceyMcDonald Publishers ) and paint a picture of a vibrant, strategic and hard-working space that is often misunderstood by mainstream media and corporates trying to capture a broader market. He has been an activist, a shebeen owner and an entrepreneur a couple of times over, but it is his unique upbringing in a rural Zulu village that sets him apart from others in his field. By his own admission in his first book, Born White Zulu Bred , it is not so much the fact that he speaks Zulu fluently that allows him to access places closed to most white South Africans but that he grew up immersed in Zulu rural life and culture, providing him with a unique perspective afforded to few white South Africans at the time (and even now). ‘I grew up in deep poverty on the banks of the Tugela River. My home was a mud hut with no running water beyond the river that ran below the rocky terrace on which our hut was built. The river was our bath and our laundry. My brother and I were as barefoot and brown as the local Zulu kids and we grew up as Zulus.’ -GG Alcock in Kasinomics 2 Episode Description GG Alcock is not a new voice commenting on the South African economy, but is a voice that bears repeat hearing, as there are still many people, myself included, who do not know what is happening in these informal economies or if we do, understand how and why they tick as they do. As somebody who has a foot each in the informal and the formal economy, and because of his unique upbringing and ‘first-person’ understanding of Zulu culture, he is in a unique position to be a messenger on both, to both sides. The conversation covers a wide range of topics, and includes his thoughts on the misunderstood stigma of South Africa being the most unequal country in the world, what the biggest import - hair extensions! - tells us about our economy, why families from other countries seem to dominate the spaza sector, and how rich township business owners would rather go cashless and pay tax, than bear the risk of storing and carrying millions of rands, in cash. He focuses on why South Africans have reason to be optimistic about their country, how the many economic activities in the townships should be celebrated rather than misrepresented, and why he thinks the formal sector needs to watch out for the ‘revolution that is being unleashed’ by their informal counterparts. He ultimately invites you to remove the prejudices and stereotypes that keep being perpetuated about these informal spaces, to see a space that has the potential and power to liberate the South African economy as a whole - and across the continent, where similar informal spaces hold the same key. Although the term ‘Rainbow Nation’ has been mocked and cast aside as a fake construct, I still quote GG down below because I believe that this quote captures best where his heart lies. ‘This book is about the revolution taking place in this sector, about the unquantified scale and the power of this as an economic engine for countries - and most importantly, as a means of life and success for the majority of our low income populations.’ GG Alcock in Kasinomic Revolution . Elsewhere, in Kasinomics , he writes that: 'There is no glamour in poverty and the drive to escape the poverty I grew up in was a powerful incentive.' It is this upbringing that incentivises GG's interest in seeing the informal sector thrive. 3 Show Notes 00:07 The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction movie and depicts a dystopian future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside the Matrix, a simulated reality that intelligent machines have created to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source. 01:04 Msinga lies about 3 hours inland from Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa 01:11 Born White, Zulu Bred 01:15 Kasinomics & Kasinomic Revolution 04:00 Daily Maverick is a South African daily online publisher serving up a blend of news, investigations, expert political analysis, and opinion. Not usually associated with ignorant headlines. 04:09 Shoprite is the largest supermarket retailer in Africa, with over 150,000 employees operating in 3,326 stores across the continent. Read their timeline , watch an interview with 'Shoprite King' Whitey Basson or watch an interview with the author of the book 'The Rise and Rule of the Shoprite King' 04:15 Watch 'Good Business' , a documentary about Pick ’n Pay and its founder, Raymond Ackerman. Imdb movie description: 'A man's fight to build an ethical company in an unethical country. The true story of Raymond Ackerman's commitment to grow Pick 'n Pay retail chain, birthed during South Africa's apartheid regime and coming of age in the countries freedom.' Quite a description. 04:46 The Story behind Time's cover in Inequality in South Africa . 04:58 Page 29, Figure 8.1, in the 2021 SA General Household Survey shows that slightly more than eight-tenths (83,6%) of South African households lived in formal dwellings in 2021, followed by 11,7% in informal dwellings, and 4,2% in traditional dwellings. 05:22 Khayelitsha means 'New Home' in isiXhosa (one of South Africa's 12 official languages - it added sign language in 2023) and lies about 30 km outside of Cape Town. 05:32 Read Factfulness - Ten Reasons we are wrong about the world and why things are better than you think. " Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts." 08:39 A Stokvel is a type of credit union in which a group of people enter into an agreement to contribute a fixed amount of money to a common pool weekly, fortnightly or monthly. This financial system is not unique to South Africa, and exists worldwide. They are also known as Chama in Swahili-speaking East Africa, Tandas in South America, Kameti in Pakistan, Partnerhand in the West Indies, Cundinas in Mexico, Ayuuto in Somalia, Hui in China, Gam’eya in the Middle East, Kye in South Korea, Tanomoshiko in Japan and Pandeiros in Brazil – to name but a few examples. 08:53 ‘Dis kak!’ Afrikaans (one of South Africa's 12 official languages) for ‘That’s bull@#$%^! You are talking rubbish.’ 09:13 StatsSA . 2021 General Household Survey - p.29 Figure 8.1 shows that slightly more than eight-tenths (83,6%) of South African households lived in formal dwellings in 2021, followed by 11,7% in informal dwellings, and 4,2% in traditional dwellings. 09:32 The Gift of the Givers Foundation is the largest disaster response non-governmental organisation of African origin on the African continent. 10:09 Had never heard of this before, am adding it to the reading list: Heineken in Africa 13:01 Spazas. Small convenience stores, often selling staples like bread, milk, cold drinks and cigarettes (staple?:) ), mostly run from homes. I looked for a good definition. Loved this one, from Bogosi Mothshegwa : Spaza Shop Lessons, Lesson #1: 'Always squeeze the bread 🍞 at the bottom. And check the date if you must' , whose family ran one of these shops, which he likens to 'a mini Pick-n Pay, Checkers or Woolies'. ' It is as convenient as convenient can get. We sold everything, at the same time, there wasn’t everything to buy. It’s the craziest thing, if you desperately needed something, sometimes you wouldn’t find it, but again, you’d find anything and everything you needed.' The term spaza is from the isiZulu language, meaning hidden or camouflaged. Spaza shops are now legalized on the condition that they obtain a trading license in accordance with Business Act 71 of 1991 ) . South African spaza shop market bigger than Shoprite 13:23 The Nielsen Company is an information, data, and market measurement firm. New York based, it a ttempts to provide its clients with valuable insights into global consumer behavior and marketing information. 14:27 Kota - slang word derived from the 'quarter' loaf of white bread that serves as a delicious, carb-loaded, dense 'bowl' containing any number of various artery-clogging and fat-drenched fillings that make it the most satisfying cheap shareable fast food to come out of South Africa. 14:28 Shisanyamas - Follow Bloomberg's Shisa Nyama index for a real picture of the impact of South Africa's inflation. For those who dream of opening a shisanyama business, a first step: A guide to launching a shisanyama business in South Africa . 15:15 Mogodu Mondays 15:21 Tripe is made from the stomach lining of animals and is widely used as a source of low-cost protein. Look at the picture in the link and then understand why GG laughs at my face of, well, horror. I used to look all neutral about tripe, cos it's very uncool to say you don't like it, just like it's uncool to say you don't like oysters. But that phase has passed. 17:03 Fruit & Veg City (established in 1993 in Cape Town and now known as Food Lover's Market ) is a large retail supplier of fresh produce. 'At the heart of the business is a keen desire to be the best green grocers, butchers, cheesemonger and fishmongers'. From their website. 17:09 City Deep Fresh Produce market - now known as the Joburg Market - is the largest fresh produce market in Africa, measuring a total of 65 000m2. Trade takes place in three warehouse-like food hubs (the Fruit Hub, the Potato & Onion Hub and the Vegetable Hub) and four of the halls are populated by wholesalers who sell smaller quantities of the commodities traded at the market. 19:04 Vetkoek , also known as amagwinya, is deepfried bread that is crispy on the outside and warm and fluffy on the inside. They were introduced to South Africa by the Dutch, though I really struggled to find any great info on its history. If you have any, please share! 19:05 Dombolo is steamed bread which can either be made as a loaf or as dumplings. Find the recipe in Dorah Sitole's 40 years of iconic foods . 21:25 ‘Carrying a Checkers’ - in the Dictionary of South African English : ' any plastic supermarket packet with handles', evolved over time because of the ubiquitous packets from Checkers, one of South Africa's largest retail stores. Talk about marketing for free! 21:33 Chappies - South Africa's iconic bubble gum made to outsell America's pink Wicks gum. 25:13 ‘Sissies’ - a derogatory slur for someone who is regarded as cowardly. Of British origin, in the mid-1800s. 25:23 Hearing Grasshoppers Jump - the Story of Raymond Ackerman . Raymond Ackerman is a South African retail icon because he turned Pick 'n Pay into one of South Africa's largest supermarket retailers after buying four stores from the founder in the 1960s. He came from a retailing family; his father Gus founded Ackermans clothing group after World War 1. The Ackermans retail group was later sold to competitor Greatermans, which started the supermarket group Checkers, now part of bigger rival Shoprite. It is at Greatermans where Ackerman started his career in retail, when he was also put in charge of launching the Checkers supermarkets. 28:06 Hawkers are informal traders, often of fruit and vegetables, but also of baked or cooked goods as well as snack foods. 'Don't treat hawkers as a nuisance, they feed the city's poor communities, cheaply and efficiently.' I couldn't believe when I saw that: Hawkers need a licence to operate in Johannesburg . 28:21 Baragwanath taxi rank is a busy taxi rank opposite the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg. It is 1.4 km long and 50 m wide and has been accurately described as a 'mall without walls' due to the many hawkers that line the rank's road. 30:19 South Africa's 1998 Competition Act and the Competition Commission Rules 34:11 ZCC Church is one of the largest African initiated churches in Southern Africa and the second in Africa. It was founded by Bishop Engenas Barnabas Lekganyanein in 1910 and is known for its distinctive blend of Christian and traditional African religious practices. Lekganyane wanted to establish a Christian church that would accept the lifestyle, culture, political development, and history of Africa. Listen to some beautiful hymns on the official ZCC Youtube channel. 34:14 The Nazareth Baptist Church (Church of Shembe) religion is a combination of Zulu culture and Christianity that has been based on the old testament of the Bible. It is the second largest African initiated church in South Africa and was founded by Isaiah Shembe in 1911. Shortly after the church's founding, Shembe acquired the farm in KwaZulu-Natal that became his holy city of Ekuphakameni. He also established an annual pilgrimage to the sacred mountain of Nhlangakazi, 85km north of Durban. He was noted for his 'dramatic healings, vivid parables and uncanny insights into people's thoughts' . He composed music, wrote many moving hymns , and provided his followers with a rich liturgical tradition based on modified forms of traditional Zulu dancing. 39:13 Model C schools - former white schools in South Africa, that admitted students of all races under the guidance of their governing bodies. This category no longer exists. 40:44 Listen to Efosa Ojomo in AfricanOptimist Episode 1 . 42:05 Tolaram Group and their journey 42:24 Sandton Square, first built as a brutalist high rise building in 1973 and now known as Nelson Mandela Square, is a high-end shopping centre situated in the rich Johannesburg suburb of Sandton. It is marketed as the richest square mile in Africa due to the highest number of millionaires living in this area , as well as being the base for the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and most of South Africa's leading banks and law firms. The 2023 Wealthiest cities report revealed that Johannesburg, home to 6.2 million people, hosts 14,600 high net-worth individuals, thirty of them being dollar centi-millionaires and two are dollar-billionaires. 43:11 Kantar is a London-based and 'the world's leading marketing data and analytics business and an indispensable brand partner to the world’s top companies, including 96 of the world’s 100 biggest advertisers the world's.' 44:33 Snail soup or 'Ofe ejula,' is 'a highly revered delicacy among the Igbo people of Nigeria. Ofe Ejula is quite pricey in African restaurants because snails are hard to find.' 44:56 The history of instant noddles (there is even a museum about it! 46:00 Maggi is an international brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that originated in Switzerland in the late 19th century through Swiss entrepreneur Julius Maggi. The Maggi company was acquired by Nestlé in 1947. 50:43 Unilever is a British multinational fast-moving consumer goods company founded in 1929 following the merger of British soap maker Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie. It is headquartered in London, and employs 127,000 people across the world and represents over 400 brand names in 190 countries. As far back as 1883, the UK founder launched Sunlight Soap, a South African kitchen cleaning staple. Omo is Unilever's largest detergent brand and used extensively across Africa. 53:37 Harvard Business School interview with Nando's co-founder Rob Brozin about Nando's. 54:21 Michael House is a private senior school for boys founded in 1896 by the Anglican Church in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. 57:18 Tiger Brands is a South African packaged goods company and one of South Africa's oldest ongoing businesses, having started in Newtown, Johannesburg, in 1921. It has produced some of South Africa's most consumed brands, including Jungle Oats, Mrs Ball's Chutney, All Gold Tomato Sauce and Black Cat Peanut Butter. In addition to the company's South African operations, Tiger Brands has direct and indirect interests in international food businesses in Chile, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria, Kenya, Lesotho and Cameroon. Corporates move into township economy . 59:45 Value-added tax (VAT) is collected on a product at every stage of the supply chain where value is added to it, from production to point of sale. Currently stands at 15% in South Africa. 01:00:48 Shop2Shop is a South African company founded in 2017 ' Providing informal business owners with better working capital solutions that create opportunities to run a safer and more profitable business. 01:00:49 The Flash Group is 'a South African fintech that strives to make people's lives easier by using technology'. 01:00:50 Kazang 'makes it safe and easy for spaza shops and informal traders to sell prepaid airtime, data, electricity and other services from their devices or the Kazan mobile app. 01:01:31 Selpal - a South African FinTech company that operates specifically in the township and informal economy, or the “Unseen Economy”. 01:02:47 Capitec - Harvard Business Review on ' How Capitec Became South Africa's biggest Bank '. 01:02:48 Standard Bank was established in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 1862, then known as The Standard Bank of British South Africa. It started doing business in a tent in Johannesburg, then known as Ferreira's Camp, in 1886, when it became the first bank to open a branch on the Witwatersrand gold fields. 01:02:50 Yoko is a South African fintech start-up offering solutions designed specifically for small business. ' In South Africa, 70% of the adult population use bank cards as their primary form of financial transaction, yet at the same time, fewer than 20% of small businesses are set up with the hardware and technology to accept cards as a form of payment.' 01:04:11 The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) in South Africa gives short-term relief to workers when they become unemployed or are unable to work because of maternity, adoption and parental leave, or illness. It also provides relief to the dependants of a deceased contributor. Pay as you earn (PAYE) or Employees’ Tax refers to the tax required to be deducted by an employer from an employee’s remuneration paid or payable. 01:04:21 ' Business registration in Rwanda typically takes a maximum of 3 days if all the required documentation and information are provided accurately and in a timely manner.' Ease of setting up business in South Africa . 01:04:31 The Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC) does registration of companies, co-operatives and intellectual property rights (trademarks, patents, designs and copyright) and maintenance thereof. 4 Time Stamps 01:47 Challenging pessimism: A different perspective on South Africa's economy 02:33 Misconceptions of inequality and unemployment in South Africa 05:39 About perspective: understanding media bias and historical bias 07:29 Examples from township economies 09:56 The Informal Economy: A closer Look at the success stories 12:41 Understanding the consumer: The key to success in the informal economy 12:57 The evolution and success of the spaza sector 28:01 Cooperative competition and an intimate understanding of your customer key in the informal sector 33:09 ‘Counter-Revolutionaries’: the cost of ignoring the township market 34:18 The power of township youth 34:52 Palesa - success of a young township entrepreneur 35:33 ‘Bluetooth’ in township schools - good business 36:23 Misconceptions about township youth 37:45 The success story of a township hair salon owner 38:15 Difficulties in changing stereotypes 40:43 The success of Indomie noodles in Nigeria 41:08 Successful campaign of launching Parmalat cheese slices into townships 49:31 How black business owners struggle to get loans for their business, but not cars 58:08 The importance of recognising the informal economy; ignore at your own peril 01:04:43 The future of the informal economy 01:08:09 The revolution in the informal economy 01:10:06 The importance of financial and legislative support to the informal economy 01:10:11 Conclusion: the power of opening your eyes 5 Episode Transcript AfricanOptimist EP4 GG Alcock .pdf Download PDF • 163KB Back to top ^ Article Lucrative informal economies in our midst , Heather Dugmore GG Alcock, Author & Businessman , the Legacy Project Video The Township Economy. 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< Back to all guests 14 January 2024 #3 Sipamandla Manqele - Exploring African wholefoods, being seen as a 'fallen soldier', adding Africa to the global banquet table and connecting conscious consumers with small-scale producers 1 Guest Bio Sipamandla Manqele is a food alchemist, transforming wholesome African ingredients into delicious, nutritious - and convenient - products that are good for both people and the planet. With her company, Local Village Africa (co-owned with partner Mmabatho Portia Morudi), she is contributing to creating a more sustainable and equitable food system, one plate at a time. The company sources and distributes a variety of African ingredients, including legumes , local honey and ancient grains , and produces a range of products from gluten-free flours , superfood powders and snack bars from the same ingredients. The long-term aim is to create a network of African agripreneurs to supply equitably sourced and sustainably grown indigenous African ingredients, which Local Village Africa then processes and packages into products for discerning consumers. It’s a win-win situation for both ends of the value chain, as the company connects mindful consumers with ethical producers, while promoting demand for more resilient crops and sustainably produced food from the continent. Local Village Africa works with cooperatives and small-scale farmers and offers training, support and access to new markets. The company creates products that cannot be found in mainstream retail spaces, and process the indigenous ingredients into convenient cans or packets for easy consumption. Their signature products can be found on their online shop and at various health shops, including Jacksons Real Food Market and Food Lover’s Market . They have also managed to gain shelf space at selected Dischem and Checkers stores in South Africa. Before Sipamandla took a partner on board, she was included in the Mail & Guardian's 200 Young South Africans to watch in 2019 , a nod to Local Village Africa’s potential and inevitable growth. Both business partners are part of a growing group of passionate advocates pushing for the importance of indigenous African crops for Africa's food sovereignty and development. And for African food to take its rightful, hitherto often neglected, place at the Global Banquet Table. Find below 1 Guest Bio 2 Episode Description 3 Show Notes 4 Time Stamps 5 Transcript 2 Episode Description In this episode, Sipamandla Manqele shares her journey in building the business ‘Local Village Africa’ and outlines the challenges that startups like her face, and how she solved for them. During the conversation, she speaks passionately about the value of indigenous African foods. She makes a convincing argument for why we should source, but more importantly, process, local ingredients so that they become convenient to use and easy to incorporate into our daily living. A lot of R&D has gone into Local Village Africa’s products, and in this episode, Sipamandla shares what she found, and what she has produced as a result of her investments in time and money. All we can say is: Watch this space. 3 Show Notes 02:04 Local Village Africa 04:13 Quinoa is considered a seed but is eaten like a grain. It is a highly nutritious crop containing more protein than most other plant foods. It orginates from the Andes, where it is referred to as the ‘golden grain of the Andes’ or the ‘mother grain’. FAO The International Year of Quinoa 2013 04:14 Soy ‘The dramatic and sustained exponential growth in world soybean production is unequalled by any other crop in the world.’ 04:15 Maize and Grace: History, Corn, and Africa's New Landscapes, 1500-1999 04:23 Black-eyed bean (also known as black-eyed peas or cowpeas) 04:24 Bambara / Nyimo / Izindlubo . ‘Legume crops such as Bambara are a cheaper source of protein, and it is one of such crops that can provide the much-needed protein and other important nutrients such as zinc and iron to low income groups of people in the country. …Bambara groundnuts out-yield other grain legume crops, such as groundnuts, in less favourable environments. Moreover, its resistance to the effects of climate change and its ability to yield reasonably well when grown in unfavourable environments, and without artificial fertilizers means that it is particularly suitable for the low-input agricultural production systems in the drought-prone regions where it is mostly grown.’ An underutilized Leguminous Crop for Global Food Security and Nutrition. 05:11 Cassava 05:17 South Africa’s Heritage Day 24 September 05:32 Visual representation: What are the most produced cash crops in Africa? Here are the 5 most produced cash crops in Africa 05:54 Teff is one of the earliest domesticated plants. Teff is native to the Horn of Africa , and one of the earliest domesticated crops, with estimates on its domestication as far back as 4000 B.C. The name teff is thought to come from the Amharic word for 'lost' because the seed is easily lost due to its small size. Did the Dutch 'steal' this African food? 05:59 Injera is an Amharic term for Ethiopian bread similar to a pancake, made usually from teff. Injera is thin, prepared from teff flour, water and starter (a fluid collected from previously fermented mix) after successive fermentations. It is a traditional common ethnic staple food consumed in all parts of Ethiopia and Eretria and some parts of Somalia. Whose Injera is it anyway? 07:16 The Bamana people, also known as Bambara (video link) are one of the largest Mande ethnic groups in West Africa, residing primarily in Mali with smaller populations in neighboring countries. Renowned for their strong cultural identity, agricultural prowess and artistic expression, the Bamana have played a significant role in shaping the history of the region. 08:12 ‘Pap en Vleis’ - A South African favourite dish, consisting of a stiff maize porridge and grilled meat 08:55 How Sushi went global Japanese marketing of Sushi and a History of Sushi 10:40 Local Village Africa canned foods and snack bars 11:56 Lusikisiki is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. According to 2020 statistics, Lusikisiki has a poverty rate of 73%, which is higher than the provincial average of 67%. This means that nearly three out of every four people in Lusikisiki live below the poverty line. Lusikisiki is part of the Wild Coast coastline , ‘renowned for being one of the most beautiful places on the planet’. 13:08 Madumbe or Taro root : Before the Columbian exchange of crops, it was the most widely grown food crop on the planet and also known as the world's oldest crop 14:20 Nigerian author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 14:57 Fonio - ‘the seed of the universe’. The Fonio Cookbook . In this landmark cookbook, chef Pierre Thiam, a native of Senegal, celebrates fonio, an ancient "miracle grain" of his childhood that he believes could change the world. 16:02 How did the Russia - Ukraine war trigger a food crisis? 16:32 The Strange History Of Potatoes And The Man Who Made Them Popular 18:49 Morogo recipe 18:32 Sadza recipe 18:36 Umqa - Hearty easy quick pumpkin recipe (video) and Umqa video goes viral 19:22 Melon (egusi) seeds soup recipe from Nigeria 20:28 Baobab 20:29 Amaranth 26:37 Costs and Benefits of oligopolistic competition in South Africa 26:44 Spaza shops are small informal neighbourhood convenience stores, often run out of homes. A guide to launching a Spaza shop business 27:50 Melrose Arch is an upmarket mixed , office, retail and accommodation precinct in Johannesburg, South Africa 28:12 Rosebank Sunday Market is a modernised flea market that trades on Sundays from the upper parking lot of the Rosebank Mall, found in Johannesburg, South Africa 33:41 Food Miles / The Food Miles Calculator / The Farmer’s Perspective. Bridging the Last Mile to Market 34:21 Driven to Waste: The Global Impact of Food Loss and Waste on Farms / Save one third: tackling food loss and waste in Southern Africa and beyond 34:30 Facing the Facts: Challenges and constraints facing small-scale agricultural productivity in South Africa / The FAO Smallholder Farmers Data portrait The smallholder farmers' dataportrait is a comprehensive, systematic and standardized data set on the profile of smallholder farmers across the world. (In Africa: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania) 38:23 Former South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd is often quoted as telling Parliament in 1954: “Blacks should never be shown the greener pastures of education, they should know that their station in life is to be hewers of wood and drawers of water.” though I cannot find the original speech online. Grateful if anybody can send it through if they have it. 42:02 Hibiscus / The month of the hibiscus 43:14 South African Food regulations / Food Advisory Consumer Services Summary / the South African Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act: Regulations: Governing hygiene requirements for food premises, the transport of food and related matters / Starting a food business in South Africa / People’s Food Sovereignty Act 46:48 Recipes from Local Village Africa 46:58 Chef Mokgadi Itsweng and her Veggielicious cookbook 47:28 African Banquet table book 47:34 Cassava 49:40 Triple Bottom Line / 25 Years Ago I Coined the Phrase “Triple Bottom Line.” Here’s Why It’s Time to Rethink It. 53:10 The Gini Coefficient was developed by Italian statistician Corrado Gini (1884–1965) and is named after him. It is typically used as a measure of income inequality, but it can be used to measure the inequality of any distribution – such as the distribution of wealth, or even life expectancy. 54:22 UCT - University of Cape Town / University of KwaZulu-Natal / University of Fort Hare - all in South Africa 01:01:03 Food Lover’s Market 01:03:03 Jackson’s Real Food Market and Eatery 01:03:04 Farm Table 01:03:10 Local Village Africa Online Shop 01:03:13 Faithful to Nature Online Shop 4 Time Stamps 02:36 Understanding Local Village Africa 03:47 Exploring Local Village Africa’s range of African indigenous products 04:50 Background on Indigenous Foods in African communities 06:08 The Significance of Sourcing Ingredients from Africa 07:57 The Absence of African Foods in the Global Banquet Table 10:30 09:52 Promoting Traditional Indigenous Foods 11:45 The Origin and Early Beginnings of Local Village Africa 15:29 The Challenges and Successes of Promoting Indigenous Foods in Retail 22:40 The Importance of Community Development and Local Farming 33:35 The Decision to Not Become a Large-Scale Farmer 34:05 Tackling the Last Mile: From Farm to Table 34:51 The Vision and Strategy: Bridging the Gap 35:04 Empowering Communities: Training and Development 36:11 The Importance of Small Scale Farmers 36:27 Challenges in Working with Untrained Farmers 36:36 The Power of Partnership in Business: Splitting Efforts for Success 37:38 The Complexities of working with Communities 38:11 Breaking the Cycle: Overcoming the Poverty Mindset 38:45 The Local Village Africa Approach to Empowering Communities 40:57 Sourcing Farmers in Other Countries 43:00 The Entrepreneurial Journey: Challenges and Learnings 45:40 Targeting the Conscious Consumer 49:36 The Triple P Business Model: Balancing Profit, Planet and People 53:54 Advice for Young Entrepreneurs: Embracing Humility and Patience 59:57 The Future of Local Village Africa: Vision and Goals 01:01:15 The Ups and Downs of Entrepreneurship 01:02:53 Where to Find Local Village Africa Products 5 Episode Transcript AfricanOptimist#3 Sipamandla Manqele Transcript .pdf Download PDF • 133KB Back to top ^ Recipes from Local Village Africa Greek Sorghum Risotto with Parsley Pesto, Feta, Olives Bambara Nut Chilli Con Carne Further interesting background info The Lost Crops of Africa Vol I GRAINS (free view or download) From the book description: " When experts were asked to nominate African food plants for inclusion in a new book, a list of 30 species grew quickly to hundreds. All in all, Africa has more than 2,000 native grains and fruits—"lost" species due for rediscovery and exploitation." The Lost Crops of Africa Vol II VEGETABLES (free view or download) The Lost Crops of Africa Vol III FRUITS (free view or download)