The project is set to kick off with a bang with the installation of three rooftop farms in Johannesburg, all backed by the Department of Small Business Development and Small Enterprise Development Agency.

Reinet Meyer is the senior inspector at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the provincial city of Bloemfontein, located in the central grasslands of South Africa. In April, she received a tip: Two adult lions had been held for two days without food or water in tiny transport crates on a farm called Wag ‘n Bietjie (“Wait a While” in Afrikaans) about 20 miles outside the city.

A charismatic carnivore has made itself right at home in the shadow of a large petrochemical plant in South Africa, according to researchers. The heavily industrialised Secunda Synfuels Operations plant, 140 km east of Johannesburg, has been found to contain a strong population of servals (Leptailurus serval) – a medium-sized carnivore that feeds primarily on rodents and is dependent on wetland habitats.