SA Urban Food & Farming Trust

Name

SA Urban Food & Farming Trust

Legal name

SA Urban Food & Farming Trust

Website

https://fairfood.org.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Agriculture and Food Systems Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Crop Production (1151), Food Crops Grown Under Cover (11141)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Agriculture & Food Security Development (BPAGABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Resilient Livelihoods & Climate-Smart Food Security (BPADAJAH), Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (BPAGAGAI), Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) / Vertical Farming (Indoor LED Farms) (AFAGAHAJ)

Keywords

• Urban food systems
• Community farming
• Food security
• Urban agriculture
• Community resilience

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: As a non-profit trust (PBO 930052666), primary revenue comes from grants including EU-funded AfriFOODlinks project (€12m, 4-year project), Global Risk Governance Programme at UCT for EESI, WWF Nedbank Green Trust for farmer training.
2. Event Revenue: Food Indaba generates revenue through ticketed events, with some free public events. Events include dinners, workshops, foraging experiences, and walking tours.
3. Market Operations: Oranjezicht City Farm Market Day supports over 40 local smallholder farms and 60 artisanal food traders. OZCF established in 2012 on heritage site on slopes of Table Mountain.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

SAUFFT delivers community-scale urban farming programmes, training, and events that strengthen food security and resilience in marginalised South African urban communities. Its offerings include the Agrihub Initiative (supporting 1600+ farmers across 230+ sites), farmer training and mentorship programmes (GrowSA, EESI), market access through OZCF Market, the annual Food Indaba platform, and pan-African food systems transformation through AfriFOODlinks.

Product overview

SA Urban Food & Farming Trust operates a portfolio of interconnected community food programs focused on strengthening urban communities through food and farming. The core offerings include the Agrihub Initiative network (supporting 1500+ farmers across 230+ sites in Langa, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, and Mitchells Plain), the AfriFOODlinks pan-African project (€12m EU-funded initiative across 65+ cities), the Oranjezicht City Farm and Market, the annual Food Indaba platform, the GrowSA Learnership Programme, and the Environmental Entrepreneur Support Initiative (EESI). Additional offerings include Food Dialogues events, market gardens, and the BioBin circular waste system. Together, these programs support urban farmers, informal food traders, and communities through training, market access, infrastructure, and policy advocacy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Food Indaba: Annual major platform for African food systems awareness and transformation, reaching audiences of over 100 million
• Agrihub Initiative
• GrowSA Learnership Programme
• AfriFOODlinks
• Oranjezicht City Farm
• Environmental Entrepreneur Support Initiative (EESI)

Products and services

• Agrihub Initiative

Quantifiable outcome

• 1600+ farmers supported across 230+ urban growing sites
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Food Project: US non-profit running youth-driven urban farms that combine food production, training, and community distribution. Comparable for its community-scale farming model, youth leadership development, and farmer network structure.
• RUAF Foundation: Global partnership on urban agriculture and food systems with multi-city programmes across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Direct peer because of overlapping focus on city-level food systems policy and resilient urban food production.
• Abalimi Bezekhaya: South African non-profit supporting home and community food gardens in Cape Town's townships. Direct peer because both organisations work on urban food security through smallholder farmer training in the same geography.
• Food & Trees for Africa: South African non-profit delivering food gardens, greening, and climate-resilient agriculture in marginalised communities. Direct peer operating in the same country and similar community-gardens-and-farmer-training niche.

Broad incumbents

• Slow Food International: Global movement promoting good, clean, and fair food with strong African chapters and events (including Terra Madre). Broad incumbent because it operates at global scale across food systems advocacy, not direct farming support.
• Global Alliance for the Future of Food: Philanthropic alliance advancing sustainable food systems globally through grant-making and policy advocacy. Broader comparator for systems-level food transformation strategy and multi-stakeholder convening.

Others

• Eden Reforestation Projects: Global non-profit employing communities to plant trees at scale, with model of combining environmental restoration with livelihoods. Adjacent comparable for the community-led livelihood-plus-environmental-impact operating model.
• Shonaquip / Social Enterprise Development Foundation: South African social enterprise combining inclusive employment with product distribution. Tangentially comparable as a Cape Town-rooted non-profit/social enterprise with grant and earned-income hybrid model.

Regional players

• African Food Changemakers (AFC): Pan-African organisation supporting food entrepreneurs and SMEs across the continent. Comparable for pan-African scope and focus on building food systems capacity, though focused on enterprises rather than smallholder farmers.

Emerging players

• Good Food Foundation: Organisation supporting regenerative agriculture and artisan food networks. Emerging peer for combining food systems transformation with small producer market access, though focused on premium rather than informal markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/FairFoodSA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/saufftrust
• Instagraminstagram.com/sauff_trust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SA Urban Food & Farming Trust