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. She is interested in multi-stakeholder engagement for community building through the lens of food systems and natural resources management, with a focus on building community resilience. She has over 10 years of experience and has worked as a project manager, farmer, facilitator, environmental researcher, and consultant in the academic, government, and non-profit sectors. 

Rirhandzu is the programmes manager for the SA Urban Food and Farming Trust, building stronger urban communities through food and farming. She is the previous project manager of the Living Soils Community Learning Farm, a partnership project between Woolworths, Spier Wine Farm and the Sustainability Institute. She established and ran the farming project for 5 years, providing a proof of concept that would enable Living Soils to transition to the new Community Inclusive Justice Institute(CIJI). She has also worked as a sustainability and environmental scientist for the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR). 

She is an advocate and has utilised public platforms as a speaker, panelist, moderator, and contributing writer to thought leadership peer reviewed and popular articles in aspects of adaptation, resilience, agroecology and sustainable food systems.