20 July 2022
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Story Nonkululeko Nxumalo
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Photo Supplied
From the left: Helene van der Merwe (Lecturer: Sustainable Food Systems and Development), Herkulaas Combrink (Lecturer: Economic and Management Sciences, and Interim Co-director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Futures), Prof Dirk Fornahl (Research associate/researcher at Friedrich Schiller University Jena), Dr Karen Booysen (Lecturer: Business Management), Ketshepileone Matlhoko (Junior Lecturer: Sustainable Food Systems and Development), Gretha Lotz (Technopolis intern), Prof Johan van Niekerk (HOD: Sustainable Food Systems and Development), Prof Katinka de Wet (Associate Professor: Sociology, and Interim Co-director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Futures)
Building a regional innovation cluster for agriculture
With this training, the UFS, in collaboration with the FSU, the
Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the
Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), the
Department of Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DESTEA), the
Department of Agriculture (DOA), and other industry partners, aims to build a regional innovation cluster for agriculture in the South African perspective that drives innovation, technology advancement, and trade methodology among academic institutions, the government, and industries.
“The collaboration between the UFS and the FSU will have significant benefits for both universities in terms of knowledge sharing and learning. However, the biggest benefit of this project is to build a better community, facilitate innovative solutions for future challenges, and provide academic collaborations,” said
Herkulaas Combrink, Interim Co-director of the ICDF.
Another regional innovation cluster in the agricultural sector is arranged within the Cape Winelands region and is centred on wine and liquor production. The projects between the UFS and the relevant stakeholders will grow other agricultural spheres such as textiles, livestock, and diverse crop irrigation.
“We are interested in a broad topic focused on climate change in the challenging context of developmental issues, inequalities, pressing issues of food insecurity, and demands/ opportunities brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution,”
Prof Katinka de Wet, Interim Co-director of the ICDF, highlighted.
According to Combrink, the UFS has been engaging online and in person with academic staff from FSU since 2021 to build the skills and capacity to drive this regional innovation.
“Academic institutions, government, and industry rely on these integral bridges to drive a sustainable digital future as well as to capacitate the next generation with the skills to increase the level of innovation required to remain relevant in the context of tomorrow,” he also said.