Rirhandzu Marivate: Working with food as if people and planet matter

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · Aug 12, 2026 · 1221 words · By Iman Allie

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What to know about Rirhandzu Marivate: Working with food as if people and planet matter

As programmes manager at SA Urban Food & Farming Trust (SAUFFT), Rirhandzu Marivate (37) operates under a simple philosophy: “Working with food as if people and planet matter.” A self-described socio-ecologist and regenerative food systems practitioner,…

Claims checked 17

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center86%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Her work centres on implementing restorative farming practices while embedding justice and equity into sustainable food systems.

Common ground

Marivate also embraces the title of agroecologist, a role she sees as inherently intersectional.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Rirhandzu Marivate: Working with food as if people and planet matter?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that From 2007 to 2009, she pursued her undergraduate degree at the University of the Witwatersrand, majoring in ecology and geology?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-12-rirhandzu-marivate-a-champion…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 17 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 7

info Single Source 5

check_circle Corroborated 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

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Claim 1: “From 2007 to 2009, she pursued her undergraduate degree at the University of the Witwatersrand, majoring in ecology and geology.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While evidence mentions Wits University and her LinkedIn profile, the specific dates (2007-2009) and majors (ecology and geology) are not explicitly stated in the provided search results.

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web search NEUTRAL — Journal of Southern African Studies.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305707042000215…

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web search NEUTRAL — The University of the Witwatersrand Logo. Skip navigation and go to page content.Wits University is committed to the responsible, ethical and innovative use of AI with academic integrity at its centre…
https://www.wits.ac.za/

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web search NEUTRAL — Rirhandzu Marivate is a regenerative food systems practitioner with a background in… · Experience: SA Urban Food & Farming Trust · Education: Stellenbosch University · Location: Stellenbosch · 500+ co…
https://za.linkedin.com/in/rirhandzu-marivate

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Claim 2: “In 2021, Mail & Guardian named Marivate a Green Futurist in its Greening the Future awards.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 3: “the Leading African Women in Food Fellowship last year broadened her understanding”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 4: “Marivate is proud of being selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship in 2022.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 5: “Marivate is now in her third year with SAUFFT.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided regarding the duration of her tenure at SAUFFT.

info

Claim 6: “Marivate spent her childhood in Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence mentions her current role and professional background but does not contain information regarding her childhood location or where she grew up.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Among the diverse contributors was Rirhandzu Marivate, Programmes Manager at the South African Urban Food & Farming Trust (SAUFFT), and an active participant in the LocalWILD Community of Practice (Co…
https://fairfood.org.za/2025/10/10/saufft-programme-manager-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa. Rirhandzu Marivate.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rirhandzu-Marivate

info

Claim 7: “In 2010, she gained an honours degree in ethno-ecology”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided for this claim consists of irrelevant Wikipedia and product pages for Microsoft, providing no information about Marivate's degrees.

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web search NEUTRAL — Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company became influential in the rise of personal computers through software like Windo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft

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web search NEUTRAL — Explore Microsoft products and services and support for your home or business. Shop Microsoft 365, Copilot, Teams, Xbox, Windows, Azure, Surface and more.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us

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web search NEUTRAL — A Microsoft account does not need a Microsoft email The email address used to sign into your Microsoft account can be from Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Gmail, Yahoo, or other providers.
https://account.microsoft.com/account

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Claim 8: “Marivate spearheaded and established Living Soils Community Learning Farm at the SI, a partnership project between Woolworths, Spier and the SI.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (Spier Wine Farm and Sustainability Institute) confirm the Living Soils Community Learning Farm was a partnership between Woolworths, Spier, and the Sustainability Institute, and other sources identify Marivate as the manager/leader of this project.

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web search NEUTRAL — In March 2019, Spier partnered with Woolworths and the Sustainability Institute and its AgroEcology Academy to launch the Living Soils Community Learning Farm. Established in March 2019. A few key fac…
https://www.spier.co.za/growing-for-good/living-soils-commun…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Living Soils Community Learning Farm, a partnership project between Woolworths, Spier and the Sustainability Institute, has been an opportunity to attempt to address a number of socio-economic and…
https://www.sustainabilityinstitute.net/a-true-community-lea…

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web search NEUTRAL — Rirhandzu Marivate is a regenerative food systems practitioner with a background in the natural sciences and sustainable development, who is passionate about working to improve communities.
https://lawff.afchub.org/fellows/rirhandzu-marivate-marivate

schedule

Claim 9: “she has been part of international food systems platforms such as the Africa-Europe Cluster of Research Excellence (Food Environment Action for the Promotion of Health), and the Urban Future of Food discovery programme team under the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 10: “As programmes manager at SA Urban Food & Farming Trust (SAUFFT), Rirhandzu Marivate (37)”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources, including the official SA Urban Food & Farming Trust team page and the 'Leading African Women in Food and Fellowship' overview, confirm Rirhandzu Marivate is the Programmes Manager at SAUFFT. However, her age (37) is not explicitly mentioned in the provided evidence snippets.

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web search NEUTRAL — Rirhandzu Marivate is Programme Manager of the SA Urban Food & Farming Trust and part of the strategic leadership team. She oversees the Agrihub Initiative, the AfriFOODlinks project, the Environmenta…
https://fairfood.org.za/ourteam/

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web search NEUTRAL — Rirhandzu Marivate is a regenerative food systems practitioner with a background in…View mutual connections with Rirhandzu. Rirhandzu can introduce you to 4 people at SA Urban Food & Farming Trust. Em…
https://za.linkedin.com/in/rirhandzu-marivate

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web search NEUTRAL — Rirhandzu is the programmes manager for the SA Urban Food and Farming Trust, building stronger urban communities through food and farming.South Africa. PROGRAM YEAR. 2025. Personal Website. null.
https://lawff.afchub.org/fellows/rirhandzu-marivate-marivate

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Claim 11: “She then left the CSIR to work at the Sustainability Institute (SI) until 2023”

CORROBORATED

Evidence from Michael Olivier and 'The Great Full' podcast confirms she worked as a project manager for the Living Soils farm (a Sustainability Institute project) starting around 2019.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Rirhandzu Marivate, the farm’s project manager. In March 2019, Spier partnered with Woolworths and the Sustainability Institute and its AgroEcology Academy to launch the Living Soils Community Learnin…
https://michaelolivier.co.za/archives/spier-living-soils-far…

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web search NEUTRAL — Rirhandzu Marivate is a regenerative food systems practitioner with a background in…View Rirhandzu Marivate’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.
https://za.linkedin.com/in/rirhandzu-marivate

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web search NEUTRAL — How Rirhandzu’s career path diverged from working with apes to working with food! How Living Soils simultaneously tackles unemployment, food insecurity and unsustainable farming.
https://www.thegreatfull.com/podcast/ep36-embodying-regenera…

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Claim 12: “As a Mandela Washington Fellow, she completed her studies at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 13: “Woolworths incorporated [Living Soils Community Learning Farm] into their newly formed Community Inclusive Justice Initiative (CIJI)”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided for this claim.

info

Claim 14: “In 2021 at Stellenbosch University, she completed a postgraduate diploma in Sustainable Development and Planning”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence mentions she attended Stellenbosch University and refers to a postgraduate diploma in a general sense via a journal title, but does not explicitly confirm she completed a diploma in Sustainable Development and Planning in 2021.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Rirhandzu Marivate. Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa. 2K followers 500+ connections.The end of a beautiful journey. I graduated from Saint Petersburg Mining University with an MBA in Subsoil R…
https://za.linkedin.com/in/rirhandzu-marivate

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web search NEUTRAL — Stellenbosch University is a leading research institution driving knowledge, innovation and transformation through excellence, inclusivity and impact.Spring has sprung and Stellenbosch University is c…
https://www.su.ac.za/

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web search NEUTRAL — International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology.
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tsdw20/current

schedule

Claim 15: “Two years later, she was honoured as a Protea of the Valley by Valcare”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 16: “From 2015 to 2019, Marivate worked at the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) as an environmental scientist”

SINGLE SOURCE

One source (CSIR) mentions her in the context of research between 2015 and 2017, and another mentions her as a practitioner, but the specific timeframe of 2015-2019 as an environmental scientist is not corroborated by a second independent source in the provided text.

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web search NEUTRAL — Between 2015 and 2017, the City of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa experienced three lower than average rainfall years.Journalists, citizen scientists, or anyone interested in r…
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rirhandzu-Marivate

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web search NEUTRAL — Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).Climate Change, Energy & Resilience, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, Local Governments for Sustainability, Africa Secre…
https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-3-030-32811-5_48-1

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Claim 17: “SAUFFT also has their own farm, Oranjezicht City Farm”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.