In the heart of Mitchells Plain, a movement is taking root, one that fuses technology, education, and agriculture to address the need for food security, empower youth, and reimagine urban spaces. Welcome to the RLabs Community Agritech Initiative, home to South Africa’s first agritech food forest and an innovation hub for sustainable, tech-driven farming.
A major aspect of our approach after preparing the soil and plant beds for nutrient wealth & water retention, is to use permaculture methods for companion planting. This provides micro ecosystems that can sustain soil health, plant growth, pollination and pest management.
The garden tackles food insecurity through cultivating organic produce, while empowering the community with hands-on learning, and smart, low-cost agri-technology. It also supports early childhood nutrition, ECD learning excursions and small-scale farming entrepreneurship.
What began during Arbour Week as a collaborative effort between technologists, environmentalists, educators, and local residents has now blossomed into a pioneering model of urban agriculture, and true to our spirit of ecosystem development, permaculture. Powered by affordable tech tools like Raspberry Pi microcomputers at the heart of a smart irrigation system, this initiative is transforming underutilised land into vibrant ecosystems of growth, for both food and people. Our focus on permaculture
