Member Spotlight: HABESHA, Inc.

KASI/HABESHA walk in the footprints of great teachers

“I am not African because I was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in me.” — Kwame Nkrumah, revolutionary and Former President of Ghana

Black Food Sovereignty Alliance (Toronto) Executive Director Ras Anan Xola Lololi and Chef Bashir Munye display an edible Africa as part of an Afro-Culinary Futurism teaching during the 2025 Black Sustainability Summit.

Far too many people of African descent have been spoonfed the fallacy of a motherland depraved, desolate, and primitive since the invention of colonialism.

This fallacy, or lie, not only shields Western powers from justice for their exploitation, harassment, and violence, but also prevents us from learning our stories, sciences, ancestral wisdom, and the lasting truth that what is African is sovereign and powerful.

With each piece of food grown, African farmers of Turtle Island stick their hands in so-called American soil and uproot the fallacy that was injected into it like a chemical contaminant centuries ago. And each year, Africans of the Diaspora take hold of our rights to refusal and reclamation, and make our return, build relationships with our African siblings, and pour our skills into the motherland.

Last year, members and staff of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance joined new member HABESHA (Helping Africa By Establishing Schools at Home & Abroad) for this sacred pilgrimage at the center of the Earth in Ghana, West Africa.

There, we saw the magic of repatriation, when dedicated students return home and commit to relearning the land, the practices of our people, and how best to serve the communities we can once again belong to.

Ras Cashawn pictured at the Kweku Andoh Sustainability Institute (KASI) in Liati Wote, Ghana, West Africa, in October 2025.

HABESHA’s Executive Director, Cashawn Myers, has been on a relearning journey for much of his life, and, after obtaining his Master's of Education, set his sights on teaching and reconnecting people of African ancestry with their cultural heritage.

“They told us our ancestors were primitive. But now everybody want Earth homes, they want to walk barefoot and call it grounded,” he said. “But our ancestors knew the ancient technology. They studied plants, studied the natural environment, and said how could we create a built environment using those same principles? And mimic Earth, right?”

In 2007, Cashawn led the development of the HABESHA Gardens Complex, a one-acre facility providing education, training, and cultural programs in urban organic agriculture, sustainable energy technology, and green living practices to the Black community in Atlanta, Georgia.

They’ve developed numerous training programs, including Sustainable Seeds for K-12 youth, HABESHA Works for young adults, Golden Growers for elders, Urban Green Jobs, and Black to Our Roots, a leadership and rite of passage program that has taken over 200 high school and college students to Ghana and Ethiopia since 2004.

When Cashawn first visited Ghana, he met social and political activist Ras Aswad Nkrabea, who began his repatriation process from Jamaica/Atlanta to Ghana years earlier, and had already laid the foundation for welcoming Africans across the Diaspora to Ghana.

Through this relationship, Cashawn made connections across the nation and partnered with Mawusi Anyomiama, a Ghanaian farmer and chef, to provide plant-based meals to the students he brought there.

Ras Aswad, Ras Cashawn, and Mr. Mawusi speak during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Black Sustainability Summit.

Only through these powerful relationships could HABESHA’s mission to teach African people their heritage and sustainable agricultural practices blossom into something major.

Over 20 years later, Cashawn and his family live in Accra full-time. HABESHA now splits its headquarters between Atlanta, GA, and Aburi, Ghana. And on October 15, 2022, the Kweku Andoh Sustainability Institute (KASI) held its grand opening ceremony in the Volta Region’s farming village of Liati Wote.

In the spirit of powerful academic and agricultural meetings of minds like those of Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver at Tuskegee University, KASI is a Pan-African healing space and marriage between an eco-resort and a research, teaching, and training center.

It was born from Ghanaian customs, including numerous discussions with Liati Wote’s King Togbe, who was a retired teacher himself, identifying and purchasing the land from Mawusi’s family, whom Cashawn partnered with all those years ago, and the teachings of Ghanaian-born Dr. A. Kweku Andoh, the institute’s namesake and revered ethnobotanist, healer, and teacher.

This historic institute is a joining of ancestors’ hands on backs, a rejoicing of Indigenous practices remembered and reclaimed, and a restoring of natural rhythms in harmony with the land.

They embody this by adopting reparative, low-to-zero waste, and sustainable agriculture and teaching philosophies, where Western practices of monocropping, monoculturing, and overmanipulation of the land simply do not make sense.

“Sustainable means it shouldn’t take much to maintain, right?” Cashawn said. “So what we try to do is incorporate the ancient wisdom of our ancestors and bring it into a modern-day context.”

They teach these philosophies to local youth and visitors through half-day, full-day, 2-day, and 2-week certification offerings, including Medicinal Herbs, All About Bamboo, Water Works, Eco-Building, Solar Technology, Plant-Based Cuisine, Organic Agriculture, and a Customized Program.

Supported by a small staff, the eco-campus features 5 eco-domes and 4 eco-octagons for housing, a bamboo pavilion, a bamboo treehouse, a solar car park, and indoor and outdoor kitchen and laundry facilities. They also steward a seasonal garden and a fruit orchard with over 60 tree varieties on the institute’s 5.5 acres.

If viewing on a mobile device, please turn your device sideways to view the following slideshow and captions in their entirety:

Walk in KASI and the Ghanaian Food Sovereignty Movement's footprints

We invite you to take the time to read through the next slides to explore features of KASI’s off-grid and sustainable campus, indigenous practices and foods they protect, and the state of the Ghanaian food sovereignty movement.

Garvey's Legacy

A wide shot of the campus shows some of the eco-domes and eco-octagons.

Each building is named after Pan-African activists, farmers, scholars, and organizers, uplifting the legacies of those like Marcus Garvey. While the pan-africanist organizer is largely credited for the “back to Africa” movement, Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah credits him for igniting African decolonization and nationalism movements in the 20th century.

Garvey once commented, “I have no desire to take all Black people back to Africa. There are Blacks who are no good here and will likewise be no good there.” When applied to repatriation, Garvey’s stance can be interpreted as a challenge: Africans repatriating must rid themselves of colonial, capitalistic, and predatory behaviors, or they will pose a threat to African sovereignty in the same breath as the oppressor.

Learn more about Garvey’s legacy and his impact on decolonial and sovereignty movements in Africa.

Dwennimmen Eco-Dome

Founder and lead steward of FOOD EARTH BIRTH (based out of Atlanta) Andrea Blanton sits in front of an eco-dome named after the Adinkra symbol Dwennimmen, which symbolizes strength and humility.

Indigenous Block Making

Ras Cashawn stands under KASI’s solar car park and demonstrates their block-making system using laterite red clay and small amounts of cement. This method was patented by students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi.

As of our visit in October 2025, KASI staff have made over 20,000 blocks to construct the campus, all from the land.

"Mimic Earth"

“So as we travel you’ll see these huge termite mounds, they’re using the laterite. So our ancestors see this hard structure, and they studied the termites. How could they mimic that?” Ras Cashawn said.

Solar Car Park & Off Grid System

KASI’s campus is completely off the grid and solar-powered. They use 18 lithium batteries to store power and are mindful of excess and wasteful energy consumption, especially during cloudy seasons. They hope to incorporate wind turbines and hydroelectric power on the campus as well.

The George Washington Carver Fruit Orchard

The George Washington Carver Fruit Orchard houses tree varieties from all over the world. Though some were lost in the move here, KASI now has over 60 tree varieties.

Diasporic and Ghanaian African farmers work to protect Indigenous food systems

KASI’s seasonal garden strives to protect indigenous biodiversity and foods. They steward a number of indigenous foods and medicinal herbs.

On the back side of the seasonal garden, sits the permaculture area or food forest, where food is left alone to grow on its own.

What's at stake?

Chef Bashir Munye and Baba Malik Yakini examine the indigenous sorghum plant, grown by small farmers across the country.

Ghana and West Africa’s food systems have seen an increased dependence on food imports despite rising costs. Corporate priorities and demand have surged the use of GMO crops, which produce high yields but ultimately threaten indigenous food sovereignty in Ghana. With over 40% of Ghana’s population working as small farmers, the movement fights to shift the current trend towards imports and corporatized agriculture back to the farmers.

In this effort, Ghana’s food sovereignty movement has prioritized the reclamation, storage, and growth of indigenous seed and food systems, relying on community organizing instead of unguaranteed government supply.

Teaching at every level

Brother Shareef Shabazz is the lead steward of the seasonal garden and fruit orchard, and trains visitors and other staff in reparative agriculture, including one of Mr. Mawusi’s sons. They plant everything in the garden by a neighbor it can reinforce or receive support from, with citronella planted around the outside to protect the gardens from bugs and provide mulch and fertilizer.

"It shouldn't take much to maintain."

Brother Shareef explains their drop line irrigation system in the seasonal garden, with holes spaced a foot apart in the line to allow for a small trickle of water and prevent overwatering.

Palm kernels

Indigenous trees like the palm tree drop palm kernels. When pounded or boiled, they produce red palm oil, which is used in popular West African dishes like stews and jollof rice.

Abedru

While considered a weed in Europe, turkey berries or “abedru” are well known in Ghana for their healing and medicinal properties, especially for malaria, high blood pressure, and anemia.

Black velvet beans

The black velvet bean is another indigenous plant KASI is stewarding and protecting. It is known to lower cholesterol and boost dopamine, and it is locally used as an alternative to coffee beans.

The Solar Dehydrator

NBFJA member Duron Chavis (Happily Natural Day) stands in the solar dehydrator, where they dry seeds like okra and pepper seeds. The solar dehydrator also provides an opportunity to preserve indigenous seeds.

Everything can be used again

KASI lets their compost sit for 6 months at a time, not touching or turning it, which allows for easy disposal of food scraps and produces great fertilizer. They’ll complete these bins by adding covers using leftover roofing sheets.

They also recently created a vermicomposting bin, where worms will support breaking down scraps into organic matter.

The Togbe Kodadza V Herbal Lab

Ras Cashawn explains the Togbe Kodadza V herbal lab, where visitors and students can learn to make herbal tinctures, distill a Ghanaian liquor called “akpeteshie” using palm wine or sugar cane juice, create an ethanol-based eco gel, and learn to make several other value-added products and remedies.

The Rosa Steverson Reception Area

Brother Shareef shows guests KASI’s reception area, where they check in guests and offer a variety of local products, including those made in KASI’s herbal lab. The reception is named after Ras Cashawn’s grandmother, Rosa Steverson, who was known for receiving and taking care of people.

Bio-Gas Power

The outdoor kitchens of KASI use a bio gas system, where staff place kitchen scraps in the funnel, they release methane gas over time, and, in turn, power the outdoor stoves. Brilliant brothers from Kumasi, Ghana, also designed this system.

The Dr. Sebi Teaching Kitchen

The Dr. Sebi Teaching Kitchen follows the teachings of its namesake by preparing plant-based, organic, and ital foods and marrying herbalism with cooking.

Chef Shevon preserves traditions from spoon to body

Shevon Myers is the “best plant-based chef in the world” according to Cashawn (and us too)! She teaches and trains local youth and staff in ital and plant-based cuisine. You can see an example of one of the full-course plant-based meals KASI offers on the menu in the previous picture. They strive not just to feed their guests, but nourish their bodies with the balanced diet we all need to be most powerful and aligned with nature.

80% of the food eaten at KASI's is grown on campus

Member Charles Greenlea (Eco-PARADIGM) touches a melon in the kitchen. KASI harvests food from its seasonal garden and fruit orchard, and practices farm-to-table principles.

The Bamboo Pavilion

The bamboo pavilion is a multi-use gathering space, stage, and dining room.

Mama Rita is love

Mama Rita Mitchell (pictured left), chef and Ras Cashawn’s mother, ensures every meal feels like a love language, in both taste and experience.

The Marimba Ani Teaching Building

The Marimba Ani teaching building, situated in one of the eco-octagons, contains several classrooms for teaching and instruction.

Marimba Ani is an anthropologist and African studies scholar best known for her work Yurugu, a comprehensive critique of European thought and culture, her coining of the term “Maafa” for the Africa holocaust. She taught African studies at Hunter College.

Kenneth Zakee's paint strokes can be seen around the campus

The classroom also features the artwork of Kenneth Zakee, including paintings of H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I, Baba Oduno A. Tarik, and farmer Chris Edwards.

Uplifting all who walked the path before

On the top floor of the Marimba Ani building, several additional classrooms are named after acclaimed African scholars.

The Bamboo Healing Sanctuary

The bamboo forest primarily serves as a healing sanctuary for KASI. It also features a rocket stove and a cob oven for outdoor cooking, built using bamboo and the laterite bricks made on the land. The sanctuary features both clumping and spreading/running bamboo types.

Communing community

The bamboo healing sanctuary and river also provide teaching and gathering spaces, where visitors and Liati Wote community can share a meal together, as pictured here.

The Workshop

KASI cuts down bamboo and other building materials in their workshop.

Indigenous building practices

When building on the land, KASI uses bamboo instead of rhebarb to form pillars and beams.

Tried and true

They also use bamboo lattices for building foundations instead of steel, as bamboo has a tensile strength equivalent to steel. These methods have been used throughout the continent for generations. They’ll preserve these same traditions as they continue to build out KASI.

With just phase one completed, KASI, HABESHA, and its larger community have truly begun something incredible, with hopes of this Pan-African center and research hub “being a replicable model across the world,” Cashawn said.

Their model reminds us of the importance of reclamation, spiritual healing, and the Ghanaian principle Sankofa, which urges us to grasp lessons from the past to forge our futures.

African people of Turtle Island, especially, know that our work is one of remembrance. With each training and teaching, we lift the generational amnesia of our people, and we bring ourselves home mentally, spiritually, and physically.

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Big ups to Baba Cashawn, who clearly walks in the footprints of the forefathers and teachers he studies closely to this day. Thank you also to Mama Rita Mitchell, Chef Shevon Myers, Brother Shareef Shabazz, Mr. Mawusi, and the entire community of Liati Wote for hosting us so graciously and charting a path towards Black food sovereignty, self-determination, and ecologically reparative agriculture.

Enjoy these gorgeous photos of local staff and Liati Wote community members who make KASI possible: