Vukuzenzele Project
Location: Kruger to Canyon Biosphere Region, South Africa
Project Partners: Vukuzenzele group, K2C Non Profit Company
Start Date: 2016
Project Overview
The Vukuzenzele project builds on a long-standing medicinal plant nursery established in the 1990s by traditional healers in South Africa. Located in the UNESCO-recognised Kruger to Canyon Biosphere Region, the nursery was created to propagate medicinal plants and preserve traditional knowledge.
In 2016, Reseed Indico partnered with Vukuzenzele group, a collective of traditional healers and community members, along with K2C Non Profit Company, which works to promote sustainable development and conservation in the biosphere region. Together, they have worked to expand the initiative, supporting sustainable income-generating activities, including vegetable gardening and the production of marula-based chutneys. By combining traditional practices with modern enterprise strategies, the project fosters social innovation and sustainable livelihoods.
Background
The Vukuzenzele Medicinal Plant Nursery and Garden is situated in the Kruger to Canyon (K2C) Biosphere Region in South Africa’s Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. It is one of South Africa’s most biodiverse and culturally diverse regions, extending from the lowveld areas of Kruger National Park to the Blyde River Canyon in the Drakensberg Mountains.
Vukuzenzele was established in the 1990s by traditional healers Mama Rosie (Rosie Ndlovu) and her late husband, David Makhubela. The nursery began when they organised a group of traditional healers to request support from the Department of Forestry. The Department allocated a small area of land outside the township of Thulamahashe and provided assistance, along with international funding, to help establish the nursery as a hub for propagating medicinal plants.
In the early 2000s, research into medicinal plant harvesting and management brought Priya Rangan – now Founding Director of Reseed Indico – to the nursery. Mama Rosie and the Vukuzenzele healer group encouraged Priya to bring her university students to learn about natural resource management directly from them. Between 2001 and 2015, Priya facilitated visits for Australian university students through the Field Studies in Regional Sustainability in South Africa program. Students learned about landscape restoration, soil conservation, medicinal plant propagation, and setting up their enterprise to sell plants, honey and other products.
Building on this foundation, Mama Rosie and the Vukuzenzele group partnered with the with K2C Non Profit Company to establish a market garden to grow vegetables for sale in neighbouring communities. In 2016, Reseed Indico joined the initiative, working with the Vukuzenzele group to help enhance their enterprise by providing training to produce pickles and chutneys from marula fruit. Although production was paused for two years due to COVID-19, Reseed Indico and Mama Rosie have resumed discussions to revive training for younger community members to help sustain income-generating activities.
