A group of scientists from the Department of Soil, Crop, and Climate Sciences in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) have initiated a research collaboration with two research institutions in Zambia, namely the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) and the University of Zambia (UNZA). The preliminary collaboration talks sought to strengthen research efforts in areas of orchard establishment and research, with an emphasis on water productivity, irrigation, and carbon cycling.

The collaborative efforts are expected to yield the establishment of a cross-border and transdisciplinary global think-tank institution. The visiting UFS scientists met with Dr Antony Chapoto, the Research Director at IAPRI, and Prof Elijah Phiri from UNZA. Dr Chapoto is a global expert in food policy, climate change, and livelihood research, while Prof Phiri specialises in agro-hydrology and soil physics. The visit was meant to foster and drive transdisciplinary research in the agricultural sector. Transdisciplinary research is key to reforming the think-tank space.

During the visit in Zambia, the team comprising Dr Tinashe Lindel Dirwai, agricultural engineer; Jerry Dlamini, agronomist; and Phumudzo Tharaga, agrometeorologist, visited villages that are still practising nomadic agricultural methods. Dlamini and Tharaga, both part of the New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP) – a prestigious programme of the Department of Higher Education and Training – joined Dr Dirwai on his visit to the sites where avocado orchards are being established by the locals with assistance from IAPRI and the UFS scientists. The scientists were also introduced to the local chiefs and headman of the villages, in order to establish relations with the local communities on the outskirts of Zambia. The UFS team also visited the long-term experimental site conducted by the University of Zambia on conservation agriculture and its impact on groundwater sources. The UNZA team is involved in maize research focused on assessing the sustainability of groundwater fluctuations and yield components of conservation agriculture and conventional tillage. The project sums up a long-term joint UNZA and EU collaboration.