Kanna Keepers
“Kanna is a sacred plant from an awe-inspiring place. We intend to earn the right to become its most trusted steward.” — Brian Powell
Kanna's story doesn't start on a shelf — it starts in South Africa's Karoo, where the San and Khoikhoi peoples have known, cultivated, and revered Sceletium tortuosum for more than 300 years. Land ownership and access in these growing regions carry real, unresolved political weight, and that complexity doesn't disappear because a plant becomes commercially valuable.
Kanna Keepers exists to protect the land, the people, and the traditions kanna comes from. That means supporting sustainable cultivation, standing behind the !Kai Korana Community and the South African San Council — the traditional custodians The Sceletium Source already partners with under formal benefit-sharing arrangements — helping fund the legal costs of reclaiming ancestral land, and building real economic opportunity in South Africa's kanna-growing regions, so growth in this category benefits the people who made it possible, not just the companies selling it.
The Khoi and San peoples — including the Korana, the Khoikhoi group kanna's traditional custodians descend from — are South Africa's first peoples. Colonization beginning in 1652, and the land laws that followed, dispossessed them of their ancestral land. Under apartheid, Khoi and San identity was erased from law entirely, classified only as "Coloured," with no recognition as distinct indigenous peoples.
That fight for recognition continues today. South Africa's Traditional and Khoisan Leadership Act, passed in 2019, was a first step — but it remains contested, and land restitution, formal First Nations status, and equal standing under the law are still unresolved for the Korana and other Khoi and San communities, including the !Kai Korana Community and South African San Council that kanna comes from.
Kanna Foods is committing a portion of its profits to support this pursuit of justice — helping fund the legal costs of the !Kai Korana Community and South African San Council's fight to reclaim their ancestral land, alongside the broader advocacy needed to secure recognition and restitution in South Africa.
Sceletium is vulnerable to over-harvesting in the wild — which is why cultivation, not just protection, is central to how this plant survives. We support sustainable cultivation practices in kanna's native range, aligned with how The Sceletium Source already sources responsibly.
Stand behind the !Kai Korana Community and the South African San Council in South Africa's kanna-growing regions — including helping fund the legal costs of reclaiming ancestral land, so land rights and harvesting rights are protected, not assumed.
Build real economic opportunity that flows back into these communities — cultivation partnerships, education, and investment so growth in this category is shared, not extracted.
Kanna grows wild in the arid terrain of South Africa's Karoo — a place of rugged mountains, river canyons, and a climate that has shaped both the plant and the people who've lived alongside it for centuries. Protecting kanna means protecting this land and the communities tied to it, not just the ingredient itself.
Kanna Keepers is an initiative connected to Kanna Foods, the makers of Original Kanna — a functional beverage built around the same plant. Kanna Foods sources its kanna through The Sceletium Source, which has maintained formal benefit-sharing arrangements with the !Kai Korana Community and the South African San Council for years. Kanna Keepers exists to deepen that commitment, not replace it.
Visit kannafoods.com →Kanna Keepers is a new, early-stage initiative — its structure and programs are still taking shape. If you'd like to learn more or get involved, we'd like to hear from you.
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