Services
Design, advisory and development models for regenerative development.
WHAT WE OFFER
Twenty-three years of turning needs into programmes, and programmes into lasting value.
CSI, CSR and corporate advisory
Programmes that go beyond conventional social investment to address real needs and build local economies.
Ecological design and planning
Site, community and bioregional design for landowners, government and municipalities.
Cannabis development models
Advice on the full hemp and cannabis value chain, from policy to rural processing hubs, with the right experts brought in.
CSI, CSR and corporate advisory
From social investment to lasting value
With 23 years of experience in sustainable development, we help businesses design and implement CSI and CSR programmes that respond to real needs, address structural challenges and create lasting value.
Much corporate social investment means well but is disconnected from reality on the ground. It funds isolated projects, so it rarely delivers results that are meaningful, lasting or able to work in a circular economy.
Our approach starts with the people and places involved. We first establish needs, then develop programmes around them. Through participatory needs analysis, including Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA), we work with communities to understand their priorities, identify opportunities and build programmes grounded in local realities.
We connect corporate investment with the bigger picture: regional development, watershed restoration, water security, soil health, food systems and livelihoods. Linking social investment to the productive potential of the natural environment opens opportunities in food, fibre, fuel, medicine and other nature-based value chains. This is the same thinking as our bioregional watershed model.
Rather than funding isolated projects, we help companies develop integrated programmes that strengthen local capacity, support enterprise, build circular economies and create the conditions for communities to generate their own opportunities.
What sets the approach apart
Needs-led programme design
We understand community priorities and local economic realities before deciding what to fund.
Regenerative development
Investment is connected to watershed restoration, water security, soil health, biodiversity and productive landscapes.
Inclusive local economies
We build pathways to livelihoods, enterprise, cooperative structures and circular value chains.
Strategic corporate advisory
We align CSI and CSR investment with regional development priorities, business strategy and measurable social, ecological and economic outcomes.
The aim is simple: to align corporate purpose with the needs of people, the health of the natural environment and the creation of future value.
Ecological design and planning
Ecological design and planning consulting
Professional consulting in ecological design, community mapping, resource management and business plan development, for landowners, government and municipalities.
- Stakeholder engagement and community asset mapping
- Site analysis, zoning, land use strategy and species lists
- A detailed design manual for your land
- Urban renewal and rural economic development
- Economic assessment of natural and social capital
- Watershed and bioregional mapping for regional self-sufficiency and trade
- Food security and community greening programmes
- Biodiversity conservation and seed banking
Cannabis development models
Advice across the hemp and cannabis value chain
We know the full hemp and cannabis value chain, from seed to sale, and bring ecological design and regenerative principles to all of it. We advise on any part of it, bring in the right experts, and help you work out which direction to take.
Where we work
Rural industrial hemp and cannabis, through cooperative agro-processing hubs that put emerging and existing smallholder farmers at the centre and keep processing value in rural areas. Our infographic sets out the case and the Afristar hub model. The hub figures are our own modelling, not forecasts.
Strategy and planning
Identifying and developing opportunities in the hemp and cannabis industry, built on regenerative practice and on natural and social capital.
Business development
Support for businesses and organisations entering the hemp and cannabis market or expanding, from value chain analysis to routes to market.
Policy and regulation
Advocacy and policy development, and guidance through the legislation and regulations, with regenerative principles at the centre.
SDG and ESG alignment
Business models that fit the global sustainable development goals and corporate environmental, social and governance standards.
Afristar's technical lead on the dtic's Country Competitive Analysis assessed eleven hemp and cannabis value chains. We bring in specialists across the whole chain. The traditional medical cannabis route is not where we would usually go, but we can point you in the right direction.
More on the Cannabis page.
Let's design what is needed
Tell us about your project, programme or land, and we will tell you how we can help.