For thousands of years, humans have had a deep relationship with seeds. Seeds are our ancestors. They carry life, culture and memory. But today, the situation is drastically changing. Across Africa and the world, the corporate capture of agriculture is threatening native seeds and the communities who have nurtured them for generations.

In this inspiring and enlightening episode of Black Earth Podcast, Marion speaks with Mashudu Takalani of the EarthLore Foundation about seed sovereignty. Together, they explore:

🌱 Why seeds are essential to life on Earth
🌍 How Indigenous communities in Southern Africa are restoring traditional seed stewardship
💡 The impacts of corporate agriculture on food systems and culture
👩🏾‍🌾 The role of African women and youth as guardians of seed
🔥 How seed stewardship builds resilience to climate change and biodiversity loss
🌾 Daily practices we can all adopt to honour seeds and support food sovereignty

This is a conversation about protecting biodiversity, reviving Indigenous knowledge, and reclaiming our relationship with the seeds that sustain us.

🎧 Listen and subscribe to Black Earth wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

📲 Connect and collaborate with Mashudu Takalani and EarthLore Foundation https://earthlorefoundation.org/about-us/

📲 Join the conversation! Leave a comment below and connect with us: Instagram & LinkedIn @blackearthpodcast. We share more resources, stories, and community activities on our socials.

💌 Connect with Black Earth team for partnerships, speaking and media requests: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/contactus

Episode timestamps

00:00 Intro to episode and why we are talking about seeds

02:37 Mashudu’s relationship with nature

04:00 Why seeds are vital to life on Earth

08:00 How Mashudu accompanies communities in Southern Africa to restore their Indigenous seeds and ways of life

13:07 The impacts of the corporate capture of agriculture

16:40 Seed is culture

17:39 Building resilience to climate change and nature loss through seed stewardship

22:40 African women and youth as seed stewards

28:00 How to bring stewardship of seeds back into the hands of small scale farmers and communities

33:00 How we can start or continue to honour the role of seeds in our daily lives

36:42 How to support Mashudu and Black Earth

What does it take to create access and opportunity for more diverse founders in the climate and sustainability space?

In this episode of the Black Earth Podcast, Marion speaks with Mandy Nyarko MBE, a leading climate and sustainability investor, about the power of entrepreneurship to drive solutions for a changing world.

Together they explore:
🌱 What climate entrepreneurship really means
👩🏾‍💼 Why there are so few Black women entrepreneurs in the UK climate and sustainability sector
💡 How mindset and access to investment shape who gets to be a founder
📈 The role of investing in building a more inclusive climate economy
🔮 The trends to watch in climate and sustainability over the next five years

This is a must-listen for anyone interested in climate justice, entrepreneurship and the future of diverse leadership in sustainability.

📲 Connect with Mandy Nyarko: https://www.mandynyarko.com/

📲 Join the conversation! Leave a comment below and connect with us: Instagram, TikTok & LinkedIn @blackearthpodcast. We share more resources, stories, and community activities on our socials.

🎧 Listen and subscribe to Black Earth wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

💌 Connect with Black Earth team for partnerships, speaking and media requests: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/contactus

Episode Time stamps

00:00 Intro to episode

01:50 Mandy’s relationship with nature

06:20 Mandy’s journey to working with entrepreneurs

11:56 What is climate entrepreneurship?

15:16 Who gets to be an entrepreneur in the climate and sustainability space

19:26 Why there are so few black women entrepreneurs in the UK working on climate and sustainability

28:38 The power of mindset in being a climate and sustainability entrepreneur

29:30 Why investing is important in widening access for more entrepreneurs

32:50 The trends to look out for in the next five years according to Mandy

34:00 What joy means for Mandy

35:20 How you can support Black Earth!

Who gets to create the future?

In this inspiring episode of Black Earth, Marion Atieno Osieyo sits down with Tracee Worley, founder of Radical Futures, to discover how communities, especially Black women, are using radical imagination and care to reimagine climate futures and environmental justice.

✨ In this episode, we explore:

🌍 Why futures thinking matters for Black-led climate and environmental action

🌍 Lessons from Tracee’s work with the survivors of the 1921 Black Wall Street massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma

🌍 What “technologies of care” mean for climate justice movements

🌍 How Octavia Butler’s visionary work teaches us to sense the future

🌍 The unique role Black women play in shaping the futures of the world

In connection to this episode, Marion and Tracee are hosting a game on Instagram live, ‘The Best Thing from A Radical Future’ on 3rd September @ 9:00am LA time/ 17:00 UK time. We’d love for you to join us!! Follow us on IG: @blackearthpodcast for more info!

📲 Join the conversation! Leave a comment below and connect with us: Instagram, TikTok & LinkedIn @blackearthpodcast. We share more resources, stories, and community activities on our socials.

📲 Connect with Tracee and her design studio, Radical Futures: https://www.radicalfutures.studio/about-us

🔔 Subscribe to Black Earth for more conversations at the intersection of nature, innovation and culture.

💌 Connect with Black Earth team for partnerships, speaking and media requests: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/contactus

📌 Timestamps

00:00 Intro to Black Earth and why we are talking about the future today

02:50 Tracee’s relationship with nature

06:46 Why Tracee set up her design studio, Radical Futures

17:55 Tracee’s moving work with Black communities recovering from the 1921 Tulsa Massacre

26:00 The importance of moving at the speed of trust

27:36 Why futures practice matters for Black-led environmental action

33:50 What it means to have ‘technologies of care’

35:46 Community creating their futures is at the heart of climate justice

38:46 What we can learn from Octavia Butler about sensing the future

43:20 What Black women bring to futures practice

46:20 How dying connects to the future

51:38 How to support Tracee and Black Earth!