The newly established Research Chair in Communication for Innovation at the University of the Free State (UFS) will position the university as one of the continental and global leaders in advancing the science of delivery by grounding inquiry in lived experience and creating mechanisms for mutual learning. 

The Chair, headed by Prof Hlami Ngwenya from the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, is one of six RC-DALLRD-UFS research chairs recently established at the UFS in partnership with the Agricultural Research Council and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. It creates new opportunities for transdisciplinary research, postgraduate engagement, and international collaboration. It offers the UFS a unique position in shaping research ecosystems that are inclusive, practical, and future-focused.

According to Prof Ngwenya, this Research Chair is founded on a transformative idea that communication should not be an afterthought, but rather it should be seen as the cornerstone of systemic change. “It will operate as a living laboratory where practitioner insights and grassroots wisdom meets academic rigour, where inquiry is participatory, and where tools are not just tested, but co-created.”

“It will also be where theories are not just applied, but contested, adapted, and evolved. And where success is measured not only by deliverables such as number of publications, number of students etc, but also by the outcomes, systemic changes and institutional learnings,” explains Prof Ngwenya.

As one of the trusted resource persons to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation as well as the Global Forum of Rural Advisory Services and the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services, Prof Ngwenya is the perfect person to head this Chair as she understands the complexity and the multilayers of the Agri-food systems. She is driven by her commitment to social impact, systemic change and a deep commitment to bridging theory and practice.

Contributing to climate change and climate-smart agriculture

This research has a critical role to play when it comes to food security, climate change, and climate-smart agriculture, as communication determines how strategies are negotiated, how trust is built, and how knowledge is shared. Prof Ngwenya, who is both an academic and practitioner, spent decades engaging in global policy negotiations at the intersection of agriculture, nutrition, and sustainability and have seen first-hand how poorly designed communication processes can derail negotiations, reinforce silos and stall progress. She has also witnessed how transformative it can be when actors listen across boundaries, when dialogue platforms are well designed, and when local voices are centred in decision-making.

Communication for Innovation enables co-creation of adaptive strategies, rapid feedback, and the context-sensitive scaling of solutions. It transforms farmers from recipients into co-researchers and innovation partners, she says.

Her vision, explains Prof Ngwenya, for the Research Chair is clear. It is to create a space where reflective practice and scientific rigour walk side by side, where diverse forms of knowledge are held as legitimate, and where communication is understood not just as a tool, but as a system-shaping force. The Chair will deliver this vision through six interconnected work packages, namely advancing the Science of Delivery by developing frameworks that help practitioners (or what she calls “the scientists of delivery”) analyse their work as a form of inquiry. It will also establish a Living Laboratory that functions as a dynamic ecosystem for testing communication tools in real-world contexts and build capacities to professionalise Communication for Innovation, training a new generation of leaders equipped with systems thinking, relational, facilitation skills, and analytical tools. 

Furthermore, as part of the delivering the vision, the chair will also validate and elevate Practitioner Knowledge by designing publication pathways, creating new knowledge platforms, and centring Indigenous and community-based insights, as well as strengthening knowledge brokering and translation, ensuring that research is not only produced, but packaged, contextualised, and strategically deployed across policy and practice spaces. Lastly, it will establish a community of practice and a Think tank to foster peer exchange, mentorship, and collective sense-making across disciplines, sectors, and geographies.

Impacting South Africa and the continent 

Prof Ngwenya says she is excited about this Chair as it is new of its kind. She gets to bring everything she has learned in the past three decades; her systems thinking, facilitation of systemic change, deep listening, and now use it to shape not just spaces, but structures. Prof Ngwenya has already facilitated a signing of a MoU with the Institute of Development Studies in the UK – one of the most respected and leading institutes in Participatory Action Research in the world. They are also engaging other likeminded partners in Africa and here at home. 

This research Chair, explains Prof Ngwenya, will reposition communication as a strategic driver of systemic change, enabling more grounded policies, more responsive institutions, and more inclusive development pathways across South Africa and the continent. By legitimising practitioner knowledge and fostering locally led innovation, the Chair will create new pathways for professional recognition. It will empower individuals to align lived experience with academic standards, enabling career growth and leadership.