ZAYAAN KHAN on The Place of Sweet Waters /83

Zayaan Khan is a force to be reckoned with, as a seed librarian, researcher, artist and Indigenous food revivalist. Zayaan is from Cape Town, and has been interested in making space for Indigenous methods of knowing and preparing food, foraging and finding fresh ingredients and promoting food literacy and security. Her approach is two pronged; challenging repressive food systems while also finding joy and inspiration through the trauma of our history as a way to reconcile and heal. Khan holds a NDip landscape technology, a BTech horticulture and is working towards a Master’s in environmental humanities at the University of Cape Town. Through our discussion with Zayaan, we trace the ways that the white colonization of South Africa not only destroyed the complexities of the human-to-land relationship, but also continues to ignore the intricacies and connectivity of the landscape, leading to today’s dire drought. Further, we learn how South Africa is still living within the echo chamber of a shockingly repressive colonial system.