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20 August 2018
WomenofKovsies Kesa praises the most important woman in her life
Kesa Molotsane, top Kovsies athlete says much of her success is thanks to the amazing backing of her mother Shani.
Most of Kesa Molotsane’s achievements on the athletic track and road can be attributed to the tireless support of her mother, Kesa says.  

“It might sound like a cliché, but my mother has taught me so much and I have learnt enough from her to survive anything. She has played the biggest role in my career and made it a priority in her life even before it (her athletics career) blossomed. 

‘My mother invested in me’

“My mother Shani has invested so much. She was present at the start and to this day she is still there for me,” Kesa says about the most important woman in her life.

Molotsane, who is doing her BA honours at the University of the Free State, has had a good 12 months behind her. She is the Spar Grand Prix 10km champion from last year, is the national student champion in the 5 000m and 10 000m and was the best South African performer at the Confederation of African Athletics African Cross Country Championships.

‘Improvement and growth motivates me’

She says improvement and growth motivates her big time. “It’s a way of weighing my efforts and hard work. I am inspired by a lot of things, depending on what situation I am in and the inspiration I’m looking for. I believe in and value inspiration in abundance.”

According to her, representing her country at the World Cross Country Championships in Uganda in March 2017 was the biggest accomplishment of her career. “It was my first time at world championships and I was the first South African to cross the finish line. I want to leave my legacy for years to come and want to touch lives using my God-given talent and gift.”

News Archive

UFS PhD student receives more than R5,8 million to take agricultural research to African farmers
2015-07-06

Prof Maryke Labuschagne and Bright Peprah. (Photo: Supplied)

Bright Peprah, a Plant Breeding PhD student from Ghana in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State received an award from the competitive Program for Emerging Agricultural Research Leaders (PEARL) of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) for one of his projects.

From the more than 750 proposals for funding that were received from African researchers, only 19 received funding from PEARL. PEARL is an agricultural initiative by the BMGF to take agricultural research products to African farmers. It also aims at involving the youth and women in agriculture.

Peprah’s proposal to introgress beta carotene into farmer-preferred cassava landraces was part of the final 19 proposals funded. The project is being led by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)Crops Research Institute (CRI), and has the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) as international partners with Peprah as the principal investigator.


The development of nutrient-dense cassava cultivars needs attention to eliminate the ramifications of malnutrition among the poor in an inexpensive and more sustainable way.
Photo: Supplied

He received $473 000 (R5,8 million) for his project on the improvement of beta-carotene content in cassava.

Peprah decided on this project because the populations of underdeveloped and developing countries, such as Ghana, commonly suffer undernourishment and/or hidden hunger, predisposing them to diseases from micronutrients deficiencies. “Vitamin A deficiency constitutes an endemic public health problem which affects women and children largely,” he says.

“In Africa, cassava is widely consumed by the populace. Unfortunately, in these areas, malnutrition is endemic to a significant extent, partly due to the low micronutrients in this tuberous root crop, which is a major component of most household diets. It is for this reason that the development of nutrient- dense cassava cultivars needs much attention to eliminate the ramifications of malnutrition among the poor in an inexpensive and more sustainable way.

“To date we have selected top eight genotypes from germplasm collected from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) which are high in carotenoids and also poundable, a key trait to Ghanaian farmers. These eight genotypes have been planted at different locations in Ghana, and being evaluated by different stakeholders (consumers, researchers, producers, commercial farmers, processors, etc.). If found suitable, the genotypes will be released to farmers, which we hope will solve some of the micronutrient problems in Ghana.

“My projects seek to develop new cassava varieties that will have both high dry matter and beta carotene which has been reported to be negatively correlated (as one increase, the other decreases). The breeding method will be crossing varieties that are high in beta carotene with those with high dry matter, and checking the performance of the seedlings later. Developing such new varieties (yellow flesh cassava) will increase their adoption rate by Ghanaian farmers,” he said.

Prof Maryke Labuschagne, Professor in Plant Breeding in the Department Plant Sciences and Peprah’s study leader, said: “This project has the potential to alleviate vitamin A deficiency in the West African region, where this deficiency is rampant, causing blindness in many people, especially children."

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