Turning Mesquite into Opportunity for Northern Cape Communities
Across parts of the Northern Cape and Karoo, mesquite trees have become part of the landscape.
During harvest season, their long seedpods begin to mature. Local residents collect these pods by hand, gathering what would otherwise fall to the ground.
But this is not simply about clearing away an unwanted plant.
Those seedpods create a source of paid income for hundreds of people. They also become the single ingredient used to make MannaBrew Superfood Espresso.
A Simple Model That Creates Paid Work
The community harvesting model is straightforward:
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Local residents collect mature Prosopis, also known as mesquite seedpods.
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Harvesters are paid for the pods they collect.
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The pods are cleaned, processed and roasted to create MannaBrew.
The scale of this work can be seen in the 2026 harvest.
More than 650 individual harvesters helped collect approximately 90 tonnes of mesquite seedpods.
Behind those numbers are people earning money through work that is available within their own communities.
What the Harvest Means for Local Families
Formal employment opportunities can be limited in many rural parts of the Northern Cape.
Seasonal pod harvesting offers residents another way to earn an income without having to leave their communities to find work elsewhere.
The work can also fit around existing responsibilities. People may collect pods while managing a household, caring for family, farming or doing other seasonal work.
Each harvester decides how much they are able to collect. They are then paid according to what they bring in.
This creates direct income that can help with practical household needs, such as food, transport, school expenses or other everyday costs.
It also means that more of the money generated by the harvest is earned and spent within the communities where the mesquite grows.
Earning an Income While Limiting the Spread of Mesquite
Mesquite was originally introduced to South Africa because it could survive in dry conditions and provide shade and animal feed.
Over time, it spread beyond the areas where it was planted.
Today, Prosopis is recognised as an invasive plant in many parts of the country. It can compete with indigenous plants for water, light and space. Its seedpods also help the plant spread when the seeds are carried to new areas.
Collecting mature pods before they are scattered does not remove the entire tree or solve the invasive plant problem on its own. However, it helps reduce the number of seeds left to spread.
This creates a valuable double benefit:
It is practical environmental work that also places income directly into people’s hands.
From the Northern Cape to Your Cup
Once collected, the mesquite pods are carefully processed and roasted to bring out their naturally rich, nutty and caramel-like flavour.
Nothing else needs to be added. Roasted mesquite seedpods are the single ingredient in MannaBrew.
That means every cup begins far from a factory or supermarket shelf. It begins in the Northern Cape, with the people who walk the land, gather the pods and turn an invasive plant into something useful.
When you enjoy MannaBrew, you are enjoying more than a caffeine-free superfood espresso.
You are tasting a product that started with hundreds of hands, rural communities and a simple opportunity growing in the Karoo.
