ALUMNI: Jacques van Rooyen (2025)

VENTURE: REHerd Africa

Reherd Africa

George, South Africa

REHerd Africa, previously Herding 4 Hope, was launched in March 2023 as a for-profit company positioned to partner with entities to develop and implement regenerative livestock management strategies and associated enterprises in communal farming landscapes. The REHerd Model upskill and professionalize herders in partnership with local implementation partners and the farmers they serve to facilitate the systematic development of a farming system that overcomes challenges and unlocks new opportunities. REHerd Africa brings scalable technology and innovation and integrates it with traditional herding and kraaling practices to unlock investment in trade and agri-enterprises. Risk is addressed holistically, and the farming system becomes investable as opposed to being fit for aid only. REHerd Africa strives to redeem pastoral communities from merely surviving to become thriving communities. REHerd Africa supports pastoral communities in more than eleven landscapes in seven southern African countries. It has an extensive network of government, non-government, funding, conservation, training, and agri-industry partners.

Jacques van Rooyen

founder & Director  |  ReHerd Africa

Jacques grew up on a cattle farm in South Africa, and during mission work at an early age, he had a God-encounter that left him with a deep love and compassion for pastoral communities in rural Africa. He subsequently dedicated his career development to finding solutions to their challenges. God led him along a unique 18-year journey of practice and specialization in animal science, wildlife management, rangeland ecology, rural development and veterinary science. It culminated in the development of the Herding 4 Health Model, which was introduced in more than eight countries over the past ten years. Jacques was the senior director of the Herding 4 Health Program and the African Rangelands Program of the Peace Parks Foundation and Conservation International before he co-founded REHerd Africa to raise and mentor professional herders and leaders in farming communities as agents of change and transformation.