Applications are now open for the Standard Bank Luju Food & Fashion Indaba! This year, the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival reinforces its commitment towards creative Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSME) development with this innovative and impactful initiative open to entrepreneurs in the food and fashion industries.
This indaba will take place on Thursday 31 July, 2025, in the House On Fire Amphitheatre at Malandela’s Lifestyle in Malkerns. The Fashion Indaba will be held in the morning from 9qm to 12.30pm, and the Food Indaba in the afternoon, from 2pm to 6pm.
Created to develop and promote the creative economy, sustainability and small-business growth by elevating the culinary and fashion industries in Eswatini, the indaba offers a dynamic programme of insightful panel discussions, masterclasses and knowledge sharing on industry best practices with food and fashion experts from Eswatini and across the Southern African region
Application forms to attend the Food Indaba and the Fashion Indaba can be found on the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival website, lujufestival.com, as well as all festival social media platforms.
The indaba will be preceded on the Wednesday by the new Grow Beyond Borders SME Seminar, which aims to capacitate SME traders on cross-border trade, so they can market their product internationally. Keep up with the Luju Buzz to learn more on this innovative new game-changing initiative.
Culinary Theme: The Forgotten Seeds
This year, we unearth the potential of seeds that anchor sustainable futures. From ancient crop varieties to intergenerational wisdom, we celebrate and draw inspiration from how indigenous practices and people harmonized with nature’s rhythms. By reviving and cultivating these seeds of knowledge, heritage and biodiversity, we bridge ancestral ingenuity with contemporary innovation, making capital investments towards food sovereignty, economic empowerment, and culinary reimagining.
FOOD INDABA
Panel Discussion 1: Seed Capital – Investing in the Farm-to-Fork Future
What does it take to build resilient, African-led food systems? This panel explores how we can invest — financially, culturally, and creatively — in everything from seeds and soil to markets and memory. Join a powerful conversation with farmers, financiers, and food system changemakers who are redefining what value looks like across the farm-to-fork journey.
This discussion will explore regenerative practices, small-scale economies, heritage crops, and the importance of supporting local producers and food workers. This is a session for anyone passionate about food justice, sustainable financing, and investing in Africa’s edible future — from the ground up.
Panel discussion 2: AI (Ancestral Intelligence) – Knowledge Carried Through Time
How does ancestral wisdom guide what and how we eat today? This panel celebrates Ancestral Intelligence — the generational knowledge that has shaped our food, our land, and our relationship with nature.
This session will examine how traditional food practices, foraging, seed preservation, seasonal eating, and indigenous techniques offer solutions for the future of food. This is a conversation about culture, sustainability, and memory — carried through recipes, rituals, and craft.
The Food Indaba is supported by Explorers and the International Trade Centre (ITC). If you’re a professional chef, don’t forget to apply for the Standard Bank Luju Master Chef Cook-Off and if you’re a local farmer or food producer, you can register to include your products in the Luju Native Pantry database. Applications available via Luju Festival social media.
Fashion Theme
“THREADS OF TIME: African Textiles Past, Present & Future
Threads of Time makes reference to the rich tapestry of African cultural wisdom as expressed through the evolution of African textiles, fashion and adornment over the years. By drawing on Africa’s rich textile heritage and utilizing inherent natural resources, the African fashion industry can create a future that honours the past while meeting the needs of both present and future generations – a future embracing fashion circulatory created in Africa.
FASHION INDABA
The Luju Fashion Indaba is an industry conference on the business of fashion, drawing focus to the current state of fashion in Eswatini and the broader African continent, as we work towards cultivating a value chain that prioritizes sustainable production and consumption within the fashion industry. The thread running throughout the Fashion Indaba is “Nurturing Growth in Eswatini’s Fashion Sector for MSMEs”. This is expressed in the following panel discussions, which will be followed by Q&A sessions:
Panel Discussion 1: Building a Sustainable Fashion Brand
This panel discussion will focus on the journey from designing clothes to exporting products, featuring a range of local and international designers and local clothing manufacturers. The discussion will revolve around strategies for aspiring designers to establish a standout brand in 2025, overcoming challenges faced by small fashion brands, and how to grow your business sustainably.
Panel Discussion 2: Threads of Time – Design Innovation and Sustainable Production
This session focuses on fashion circularity (in which products are used more, made to be made again, and made from safe and recycled or renewable inputs) and innovative materials, with textile designers and experts on sustainability and fabrics. This session will explore how we can support a sustainable fashion industry in Eswatini and how local brands can unpack innovations in textile design, fabric technologies and sustainable production, integrate local resources into fashion production, and together see how sustainability can support business growth for fashion brands. Thula Sindi’s appearance at the Fashion Indaba is supported by Mastercard.
For more information on the Luju Food & Fashion Indaba, please visit www.lujufestival.com and keep up with the Luju Buzz by following Luju Festival social media.
