The Research Chair in Communication for Innovation, led by Prof Hlamalani Ngwenya, responds to the urgent need to transform agrifood systems in Africa and globally. These systems are under growing pressure to deliver food and nutrition security while confronting the interlinked challenges of climate change, environmental degradation, population growth, institutional fragmentation, and social inequality. Despite the proliferation of technical solutions, many innovations fail to scale sustainably or meet the complex, lived realities of practitioners and communities, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This is not merely a technological problem, but a systemic one: rooted in fragmented knowledge systems, poor communication, contested worldviews, and the absence of inclusive methods for learning, dialogue, and adaptation.
Many of the so-called “wicked problems” facing society today, such as food insecurity, climate adaptation, organisational transformation, and digital inclusion, are not solvable through technical fixes alone. They require new modes of communication, collaboration, and sense-making that bridge disciplines, sectors, and scales of action.
As the first chair of its kind in Africa, it positions itself as a continental leader in meeting the practitioners where they are and advancing the science of delivery, validating their knowledge, and co-producing scalable, inclusive solutions for agrifood systems transformation. The chair occupies a distinctive niche at the intersection of theory and practice, seeking to bridge the persistent divide between academic research, policy formulation, and frontline delivery. It recognises that some of the most meaningful and impactful innovations are not generated in laboratories or boardrooms but emerge through the adaptive strategies and lived experiences of practitioners. There is rich knowledge that is often tacit, Indigenous, undocumented, and undervalued in formal systems. Rather than treating communication as a peripheral support function or messaging, the chair positions Communication for Innovation as a strategic enabler of systems transformation. Communication for Innovation is the thread that connects evidence to action, people to purpose, and institutions to the communities they serve. It is important for social learning, behavioural change, trust-building, and context-sensitive scaling.
This research chair pioneers action oriented, participatory research and system thinking framework that embed communication for innovation in every stage of the innovation lifecycle from ideation and co-design to adaptation, implementation, and scaling. It works to institutionalise practitioner-led inquiry, amplify field-based insights, and foster communication ecosystems that drive real-world change.
The chair delivers its mandate through six strategic pathways:
- Advance the science of delivery through action-oriented and participatory research.
- Catalyse inclusive scaling (up, out, and deep) through a Living Laboratory for Systems Learning.
- Strengthen capacity in communication, systems thinking, and transdisciplinary practice.
- Unearth and validate practitioner knowledge from the ground up.
- Strengthen knowledge brokering and translation to make evidence usable and accessible and
- Establish a community of practice and systems think tank to drive peer learning, innovation, and policy dialogue.
As a cross-cutting function, the Research Chair in Communication for Innovation supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), as well as Africa’s Agenda 2063 and South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP 2030). It does so by advancing inclusive communication systems, gender-responsive innovation, climate resilience, and practitioner-led knowledge generation at local, national, and continental levels.
About the chair holder:
Prof Hlamalani Ngwenya, widely known as Dr Hlami, is a South African-born global citizen, passionate professional, poet, author, content curator, and proud mother of three. With over 30 years of international experience in agriculture, education, health, and community development. She holds PhD in Sustainable Agriculture, UFS specialising is Facilitation of Systemic Change in the context of transforming Agricultural Extension Service Delivery systems. She has Masters and Honour in Consumer Sciences, Bachelor of Education and Senior Secondary Teacher’s diploma.
Prof Ngwenya has received a number awards and accolades. Most notable include the South Africa’s highest national award, the Order of the Baobab in Bronze 2021, honoured by President Cyril Ramaphosa for her contributions to capacity building, sustainable agriculture, and community empowerment. SASAE Bronze Medal in 2023 recognized by South Africa Society of Agricultural Extension (SASAE) for her outstanding advancement of agricultural extension as a science and practice. The most recent on 16 May 2025, Professor Hlami Ngwenya received an Award of Recognition from the Minister of Agriculture of Malawi, Honourable Sam Dalitso Kawale, for her outstanding design and moderation of the Africawide Agricultural Extension Week, held in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Wearing a dual identify as both an academic and practitioner, Prof Ngwenya has taught at agricultural high schools and colleges of Agriculture (1993–2004), lectured undergraduate and postgraduate students At University of Pretoria and Free State (2011–2021), supervised Master’s and PhD research, and served as an external examiner. Her academic grounding is matched by practical leadership across public, private, and civil society sectors. She has held senior managerial roles in government, including Chief Director for Agricultural Producer Support and Development in the Western Cape, where she provided oversight in the implementation of Conditional Grants, strategic programmes in extension, food security, and farmer development. She is also a former Skills Planning Manager at AgriSETA where she led Sector wide strategic and skills planning processes in the Agricultural sector. She served in leadership, advisory, and facilitation roles for organisations such the Global Professionalisation Coordinator at Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), Knowledge Management Manager, FANRPAN.
As a freelance international development consultant since 2004, Dr. Ngwenya has undertaken numerous assignments focused on policy facilitation, capacity development, knowledge management, and participatory research at global, regional, and national levels. She also served as resource person for a wider range of organisations in Agricultural Policy, Education, Research, Farming, Finance, Extension and Advisory services, Communication, Technologies and Trade. These the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), RUFORUM, CGIAR, SADC, Emerging Ag, PICOTEAM and many more. She has done assignments in over 60 countries, including 24 in Africa, earning global recognition as a facilitator of systemic change and strategic innovator and contributing to transformative agricultural initiatives globally.
Her specialisations include agricultural extension and advisory services, agri-food systems, sustainable development, food and nutrition security, climate adaptation, farmer organisation development, gender and youth empowerment, and local economic development, communicating science. Her core skills include Systemic Competence development, strategic foresight, facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes, knowledge brokering, knowledge translation, high-level policy dialogues, project management, MEL, innovation systems, and gender-responsive programming.
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