Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
19 February 2018

Khomotso matriculated in Lephalale in Limpopo and made her way to Bloemfontein in January 2014. She was determined to succeed in life and knew that she had one chance to achieve her objective, which was to obtain a degree. However, coming from a family with an annual income of less than R80 000 she knew she would have to find funding. She secured a bursary with Distell, although it would only cover her tuition, so her next challenge was finding funding for meals and other expenses.

Making a difference daily
When she arrived at the University of Free State (UFS) she applied for the No Student Hungry (NSH) Food Bursary through the Social Work Services office and was successful. The weekly NSH funds she received enabled her to buy food and offered her extra opportunities to develop herself through student wellness workshops. NSH funded her for the next three years. “It was a relief not to worry about where my next meal would come from, allowing me time to concentrate on my studies,” said Khomotso.

Three years later she graduated with 22 distinctions and is pursuing her postgraduate studies in Education in 2018. For her, it is important to create the change that our country needs. “It was my teachers and parents who inspired me to pursue a degree. As a future teacher, I want to be able to make a difference in the lives of young people. “

Donors key in reducing food insecurity
Like Khomotso, there are many academically strong students who lack adequate financial support to sustain them through their degree programmes. For this reason, the financial contributions made to the NSH Food Bursary Programme by staff of the UFS, alumni and other donors remains crucial. Systemic change occurs when students graduate and join the country’s workforce. Together, we continue to cause ripples of change in our country.

The South African Surveys of Student Engagement Annual Report (2016) reflects that “it is clear that financial stress impacts on different areas of students’ lives. It is also clear that the impact is magnified for those who are already vulnerable, such as students who come from poor families”.

No Student Hungry supports students on their journey to success

Figure 7 shows that 32% of black African students reported that they ran out of food and could not afford to buy more on most days or every day. Similarly, a significant difference in responses is seen between first- and non-first-generation students, with 77% of first-generation students indicating that they ran out of food without being able to buy more, compared to 53% of non-first-generation students.

The overall academic average of 2017 NSH students was 61% on all three UFS campuses, with the top 10 achievers of 2017 being females predominantly in the black African and coloured designated groups, in the fields of Communication, Law, Education, Science, Social Science and Psychology, scoring on average above 70%.

Give to the NSH Food Bursary.

Contact: Vicky Simpson, Officer Institutional Advancement SimpsonVZ@ufs.ac.za /call: +27 51 401 7197.

News Archive

UFS research could light up South African homes
2016-01-21

Reitumetse Maloa, postgraduate student and researcher at the UFS Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, is using her research to provide solutions to the energy crises in South Africa.

A young researcher at the university is searching for the solution to South Africa’s energy and electricity problems from a rather unlikely source: cow dung.

“Cow dung could help us power South Africa,” explains Reitumetse Maloa, postgraduate student and researcher at the UFS Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology.

Reitumetse’s research is trying to understand how the bacteria works that is responsible for producing biogas.

“Biogas can be used for cooking, heating, lighting and powering generators and turbines to make electricity. The remaining liquid effluent can fertilise crops, as it is high in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.”

By using cow dung and food waste to produce biogas, we will be able to lower greenhouse gases.

Biogas is produced in a digester - an oxygen-free space in which bacteria break down or digest organic material fed into the system. This process naturally produces biogas, which is mainly a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide.

“Many countries, such as Germany and the United States, have begun generating electricity from cow dung and food waste, through a process known as biogas production. In South Africa, a number of industries, including waste-water treatment facilities and farms, have caught on to this technology, using it to generate heat and to power machines.”

Until recently the world has relied heavily on electricity derived from fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil. Once these fuels have been extracted from underground reservoirs, they are treated or cleaned, transported to power plants and transformed into the electricity that will reach your house. Fossil fuels are considered a ‘dirty’ energy source which gives off greenhouse gases when burned. Those gases are the major contributing factor to climate change.

“We know very little about the interaction of the bacteria inside the biogas digester. To use biogas as a sustainable fuel source, we need to understand and describe the bacteria population and growth dynamics inside the digester to produce biogas optimally. Currently we are testing a variety of feedstock, including bran, maize and molasses, for biogas production potential, as well as optimising the conditions leading to maximum biogas production. We are also exploring the potential to use the effluent as fertiliser on local farms. The ultimate goal is to have biogas systems that will supply our university with clean energy.”


We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept