Saving Philippi farming area for future generations

The Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) encapsulates Cape Town’s hopes for a fair future. Those of us in the food space hope for a future of increased food production with land restitution. What we see day-to-day, however, is increasing theft, abandonment, and settlement where the land becomes more untenable. As we are told that older heritage farmers are aging out of a conventional system of agriculture that makes less and less commercial sense, what is the future of this uncertain land?

What few have noticed is that some have taken land restitution into their own hands. Around 1999, three families moved to the PHA from surrounding neighbourhoods, and are now working hard to build commercial organic farms that are productive and regenerative spaces.