Combo Ticket – Dialogues through Food 20% off
One discounted ticket for two Dialogues through Food events.
R800 per person.
Ancestral Intelligence, with Motheo Mamabolo. Saturday 12 July 18h30 – 21h00
The Glocal Table, with Tarryn de Kock. Saturday 19 July 18h30 – 21h00
Combo Ticket – Food Systems Professional 20% off
One discounted ticket for three professional events.
R920 per person.
- AI and the Food System Conference. Fri 18 July 09h00 – 17h00
- AI and Data Power for Food Founders Masterclass. Wed 16 July 14h00 – 16h00
- Bellville Food Systems Walking Tour. Tue 8 July 10h00 – 12h00 OR Langa Food Systems Walking Tour. Tue 15 July 10h00 – 12h00
Combo Ticket – Family combo 20% off
One discounted ticket for three events.
R760 per person.
- Tea with a Farmer Lerotholi OR OZCF. Saturday 12 or Saturday 19 July, 10h00 – 12h00
- Food Systems Walking Tour Bellville OR Langa. Saturday 12 or Saturday 19 July, 10h00 – 12h00
- Hack the Kitchen A Teens Cooking Jam. Saturday 19 July 12h30 – 14h30
Langa Food Systems Walking Tour
Starting at iKhaya le Langa, Langa
R500 per person.
Join a small group on a journey to the heart of the Langa food system.
Langa constitutes the geographic centre of the City of Cape Town metropole, and what was established to be on the margins now holds a significant central role.
On this walking tour participants get inside the Langa food system, learning about policy, trade, market access, supply chain nuances, identity and the tension between trader desire and city economic development goals.
Participants also get to sample a range of local specialities.
Saturday 12 July 10h00 – 12h00
Tuesday 15 July 10h00 – 12h00
Saturday 19 July 10h00 – 12h00
Hack the Kitchen – Flavour Science Lab
At the Cape Town Science Centre, Observatory
R195 per child.
The Food Indaba has partnered with the Cape Town Science Centre and Tapi Tapi Ice Cream to stage a series of chemistry and cooking workshops for kids aged 6 – 12.
Extracting flavour from indigenous South African plants to make ice cream.
Kids will discover the science of cooking through a series of simple cooking experiments in this immersive workshop.
We will use a few scientific principles around the extraction of chemicals from plant material to extract and manipulate delicious and complex flavour molecules.
Participants will make their own ice creams flavoured with indigenous plants.
Suitable for ages 6 – 12.
Saturday 12 July 11h00 – 12h30
Saturday 19 July 11h00 – 12h30
AI and the Food System Conference
At Makers Landing, V&A Waterfront
R500 per person including lunch and coffees.
A full-day conference exploring AI’s transformative potential for African food systems. Leading AI thought leaders and practitioners from the Centre of Excellence in Food Security’s Innovation Lab, University of Pretoria’s Data Science for Social Impact group, the Deep Learning Indaba, and the Global Centre on AI Governance will guide discussions on opportunities, challenges, and practical applications.
Morning Session: Global AI landscape, AI developments across Africa, current commercial applications and emerging opportunities
Afternoon Session: AI’s specific role in transforming African food systems – from production to consumption
Join researchers, practitioners, and innovators shaping the future of AI in African agriculture and food security.
Friday 18 July 2025
Cape Town Food Systems Walking Tour
Starting at Heritage Square, Cape Town
R500 per person.
Join a small group walking tour that will reveal the intricate connections and overlays between Cape Town’s ecological systems, history and food lineages, from pre-colonial to present day.
Created by the SAUFFT and the tour guides hosting, in collaboration with historian and former head of the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership, Andrew Boraine, the tour sheds light on how history shapes the modern-day food system in Cape Town and how the contemporary city shapes our interactions with food.
Experience the vibrant food cultures on the streets and in the urban core, including tastes of classic Cape Town street food.
The walk takes participants on a loop through the city starting at Heritage Square, taking in locations such as Greenmarket Square, the station deck, the Golden Acre and the Company’s Gardens. You will never see (or taste) the city in the same way again!
The ticket price includes food tastings.
Thursday 10 July 10h00 – 13h00
Saturday 12 July 10h00 – 13h00
Saturday 19 July 10h00 – 13h00
Bellville Food Systems Walking Tour
Starting at the Sho’t Left Clinic, Belville
R500 per person.
Take a journey with the team at the Greater Tygerberg Partnership and SAUFFT showcasing the work being done by the Partnership and the AfriFOODlinks project to develop and support the Bellville informal food system, and understand the relationship between food, waste, culture, identity and political will.
Bellville is the city’s largest commercial centre, located about 20km away from the Cape Town CBD. Bellville acts as a central transport node for the city, and is considered a Pan-African food hub.
The exploration begins with the Bellville informal trade market at the taxi rank, sampling foods, engaging with traders, learning about the goods being traded, and follows the journey of waste created at the market down the road to the waste sorting site, and finally the urban farm that is fertilised by the market’s organic waste. The walk ends with a herbal tea.
Ticket price includes food tastings.
Tuesday 08 July 10h00 – 12h00
Saturday 12 July 10h00 – 12h00
Saturday 19 July 10h00 – 12h00
Tea with a Farmer, 16 on Lerotholi Farm
Starting at the 16 on Lerotholi Art Galley
R195 per person.
Hosted by farmer Mzi Mashicila, Tea with a Farmer is an urban farm immersion.
Guests are welcomed at the 16 on Lerotholi Art Gallery with a cup of farm-grown herbal tea, and then guided around the farm, learning about its history, sustainable farming practices, organic gardening, and the importance of urban agriculture. The SAUFFT Agrihub pilot project is located at the farm, and this innovative initiative forms part of the tour.
The tour runs about an hour and fifteen minutes. Guests are encouraged to linger after the tour and take in the Art Café exhibition at the gallery that forms part of Food Indaba 2025.
Tea is included in the ticket price.
Saturday 12 July 10h00 – 11h15
Saturday 19 July 10h00 – 11h15
Tea with a Farmer, Oranjezicht City Farm
Starting at the Oranjezicht City Farm, Oranjezicht
R195 pp early bird price.
Tea with a Farmer takes guests on a tour of the Oranjezicht City Farm, perhaps Cape Town’s most famous urban farm.
Hosted by farmer and OZCF manager Melanie Stewart, guests are welcomed with a cup of farm-grown herbal tea, and then guided around the farm, learning about its history, sustainable farming practices, organic gardening, and the importance of urban agriculture.
The tour runs about an hour and fifteen minutes.
Tea is included in the ticket price.
Saturday 12 July 10h00 – 11h15
Saturday 19 July 10h00 – 11h15
Between the Lines – a conversation with Kim Bagley
At The Book Lounge, Roeland Street
Free. Register online.
In partnership with the Book Lounge, the Food Indaba presents a conversation with cook book writer Kim Bagley.
Kim’s new book ‘Cooking with Kim Bagley: A South African Fusion of Flavours’ was published in June this year by Human & Rousseau.
Zukiswa Pikoli, managing editor of the Daily Maverick News and Maverick Citizen, will facilitate the conversation.
Friday 11 July 18h00 – 19h30
Hack the Kitchen – a teens AI cooking jam
At Food Jams Soute, Salt River
R300 per person.
Learn about indigenous African ingredients, nutrition, and AI while having fun in the kitchen. Perfect for tech-curious teens who love to create.
Saturday 19 July 12h30 – 14h30
AI, Knowledge & African Food Systems – online conference
Zoom live stream from the Cape Town TV studios
Free. Register to join.
- AI as knowledge system: accessibility vs. bias
- Cultural presence in AI models—where are African narratives?
- Developing toolkits to assess AI truthfulness and detect bias
- Balancing deep narrative knowledge with AI-synthesised versions
- Ethics of ownership, attribution, and acknowledgment in AI
Join the conversation on ensuring AI serves justice, equity, and authentic representation in food systems.
Wednesday 09 July 11h00 – 12h30
The Glocal Table – Dialogues through Food
At Makers Landing
R550 per person.
Please note that due to the nature of the menu, this event is not suitable for vegetarians and vegans. The menu is halaal.
Saturday 19 July 18h30 – 21h00
Ancestral Intelligence – Dialogues through Food
At Makers Landing, V&A Waterfront
R450 per person.
Human Intelligence – Humanity Tour of the Iziko Natural History Museum
Iziko South African Museum
R120 per person
A private tour of the HUMANITY exhibition at Iziko South African Museum with curator Dr Wendy Black, using a food lens to look back at human origins.
The exhibition reimagines the story of human evolution as centred on the diversity of humans today and how we came to be that way, without the colonial paleoanthropological lens. It focuses on the rich record of people found in South Africa and Africa. In doing so, it reimagines our origins as a story of intelligence, creativity, and endurance.
Friday 11 July 14h30 – 15h30
AI and Data Power for Food Founders – a Masterclass
At Makers Landing, V&A Waterfront
R150 per person.
Zero Waste Summit
At Makers Landing, V&A Waterfront
Free. Register online – very limited tickets.
Chef’s Summit
At Makers Landing
Free. Register online – very limited tickets.
Explore how artificial intelligence is challenging and transforming culinary operations – from recipe development and kitchen workflows to sustainability, education and food entrepreneurship.
This interactive panel brings together chefs, culinary educators, and food tech professionals to discuss real-world AI applications, training opportunities, future possibilities and challenges.
Panelists:
- Carl van Rooyen, executive chef and educator
- Arabella Parkinson, chef and food activist
- Miles Khubeka, chef, entrepreneur, IT and AI strategist
- Vusi Ndlovu, executive chef Edge x Vue
Facilitator:
- Riana Andrews, editor SA Chef’s Magazine
Tickets are free and limited to one per person.
Presented in association with the SA Chef’s Association and the Chef’s Manifesto.
Tuesday 15 July 11h00 – 13h00
- The 2025 Food Indaba takes place from Monday the 7th to Sunday the 20th of July.
- The theme of this year’s event is Artificial Intelligence and the Food System.
- Approximately 20 events are planned to be held across the city.
- Key AI thought leaders will contribute to an in-person conference on Friday 18 July at Makers Landing, V&A Waterfront.
- AI and entrepreneurship masterclasses will also take place at Makers Landing.
- Food Systems Walking Tours will take place in Bellville, Langa and Cape Town central business districts.
- Free art exhibition at Makers Landing and 16 on Lerotholi Gallery in Langa.
- Kids ages 6 – 12 can look forward to an exciting chemistry and cooking workshop at the Cape Town Science Centre.
How will our food system be impacted by artificial intelligence?
AI is currently generating widespread discussion, from debates about its potential to end humanity to excitement over innovations like ChatGPT, with its rapid progress likened to the world wide web’s seismic shift 32 years ago. However, what’s often overlooked is Africa’s absence in the data that powers AI. Less than 5% of AI training data pertains to Africa and less than 3% of that 5% comes from the continent itself, highlighting a significant gap in representation.
In this context, what does AI mean for Africa and what does it mean for African food systems? Will it help dismantle the power structures that reinforce injustice and drive bad outcomes, or will it turbo-charge them? What difference can we make in re-shaping our food system to be more healthy, sustainable and just if we have more understanding and more agency in shaping AI in ways that respond to our needs?
With over 20 events planned to run over two weeks in venues across the city, the 2025 Food Indaba will explore the connections between AI and the Food System.
“This is a pivotal moment for those working to change the Food System,” says South African Urban Food and Farming Trust CEO Kurt Ackermann, “to learn about what AI can do, how they can best use these tools to reach their goals, and how they can ensure that the valuable data they are generating becomes part of the existing models and helps improve the way AI understands and represents Africa in food and all other aspects of our lives.”
Something for every plate
This year, the event programme is broken down into a professional focus, with events taking place during the week and a general public focus, with events clustered largely around weekends.
Two masterclasses on AI and Food Entrepreneurship will be hosted by the Oribi Incubator at Makers Landing and this year’s full day conference brings together AI thought leaders from across the country, to share their insights into the current state of AIand how those in the food system could be harnessing the power of AI.
Additional events include the addition of Food Systems Walking Tours in Bellville and Langa, in addition to the Cape Town CBD Food Systems Walking Tour. The Art Cafe High Tea series at the 16 on Lerotholi Gallery in Langa returns, as does the Dialogues through Food chef-led dining series. Everyone is invited to enjoy herbal tea with an urban farmer at the Oranjezicht City Farm and the Lerotholi Urban Farm as part of Tea with a Farmer.
This year for kids ages 6 to 10 the Food Indaba has partnered with the Cape Town Science Centre to run a series of chemistry and cooking workshops. There will again be a focus on Teens and the Food System, for ages 12 to 19.
Grab your tickets and feast on more information
For the first time, the Food Indaba will offer combo ticket options for those wishing to book bundles of events or even a full-access pass. Ticket prices start at R120. Discounted early bird tickets are now live for key Food Indaba 2025 events.
Follow the event on social media with #Foodindaba2025 and on the following channels:
Facebook: fb.me/foodindaba
Instagram: @food.indaba
Twitter: @foodindaba
LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/showcase/food-dialogues
Food Indaba is hosted by the SA Urban Food & Farming Trust with co-host and sponsor SOLVE@Waterfront. Co-sponsored by the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security, and AfriFOODlinks (funded by the European Union). Event partners include the UNESCO Chair in Science and Education for African Food Systems, the African Centre for Cities, Bertha House, Philippi Village, ICLEI Africa, City of Cape Town, Western Cape Government, the TenX Collective, the Greater Tygerberg Partnership, 16 on Lerotholi Gallery, University of Pretoria, the Data Science for Social Impact Research Group, Cape Town TV, and Derrick Integrated Communications.
Contact: Kurt Ackermann: kurt@fairfood.org.za +27 83 508 1066
Media enquiries: Lisa Pellatt media@foodindaba.org +27 84 553 4629