Food Sovereignty for Batswana Elders

Food Sovereignty for Batswana Elders is a six-month regenerative agriculture and indigenous knowledge project that supports 15 Batswana elders in establishing and strengthening home-based food gardens rooted in African indigenous crops, traditional ecological knowledge, and community resilience.

The project emerges from the insights gathered through Living Treasures of Bophirima, a community-led research initiative that documented, archived, and celebrated the indigenous knowledge systems, cultural practices, oral histories, and environmental wisdom of Batswana elders resulting in a book and documentary. Through extensive interviews and storytelling engagements, elders shared invaluable knowledge about their land, language, culture and food systems that include seed saving, seasonal planting cycles, medicinal plants, food preservation, soil stewardship, and the sacred relationship between people, land, and ancestors. One of the key findings is the continuous loss of indigenous food systems, with most elder households lacking functional gardens despite strong memory and knowledge of abundant past ecosystems that included fruit trees, crops, and livestock.

Food Sovereignty for Batswana Elders project goal is to transforms this research into living practice. The project recognizes elders not as beneficiaries but as custodians of knowledge whose wisdom is essential for addressing contemporary challenges of food insecurity, climate change, cultural erosion, and the loss of indigenous agricultural systems.

The funds will be used for garden infrastructure, indigenous seeds, seedlings and fruit trees, tools,transport and food for executing team, mentorship through practical workshops, and ongoing support to establish regenerative food gardens that nurture biodiversity, improve household nutrition, and strengthen local food systems.

Beyond food production, the gardens will serve as intergenerational learning spaces where cultural knowledge is transferred to younger generations through storytelling, planting practices, seed preservation, and traditional food preparation. The project seeks to restore the dignity of elders, revive indigenous crops adapted to local climatic conditions, and strengthen community self-determination through regenerative land stewardship.

By centering indigenous knowledge as a solution for ecological and social renewal, Food Sovereignty for Batswana Elders contributes to a future where communities are nourished by their own land, culture, and collective memory. The project honours elders as living libraries whose knowledge continues to cultivate resilience, belonging, and sustainable futures for generations to come.