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21 August 2019 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah
Keafon Jumbam
Keafon Jumbam is gearing herself for the institutional Three Minute Thesis competition.

Keafon Jumbam is a PhD candidate whose research on food and foxes has won her the first prize of R8 000 in the recent Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences’ Postgraduate Flash Fact Competition. Her brief in the competition was to summarise her research in three minutes, using only one static slide.

“The competition started at departmental level on both campuses. The idea was that the best student in each department is then selected to go for the faculty-level competition on the Bloemfontein Campus. Summarising the entire research into three minutes is no easy feat, but a great way to gauge how well one has mastered your work,” she said.

Far-reaching research

“Thought-provoking presentations on research, ranging from technology to track academic progress, traditional medicine as alternatives to expensive prescriptions, and suggesting insects as food alternatives to curb hunger in this era of severe droughts and food shortages. The competition was tough, but it highlighted the level of research competitiveness on the Qwaqwa Campus. I hope that more students will join in such opportunities to build themselves up and to showcase our research output as Qwaqwa students,” added Jumbam from the Department of Zoology and Entomology.

Institutional finals

Her next challenge is the institutional competition to be held on 23 August 2019, which could qualify her for the national competition.


News Archive

A mind shift needed in agriculture in Africa
2010-12-02

Prof. Frans Swanepoel (Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development), Prof. Monty Jones, Prof. Driekie Hay (Vice-Rector: Teaching and Learning), Prof. Alice Pell (Cornell University, USA), and Prof. Izak Groenewald (Director of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development) at the inaugural lecture of Prof. Jones as Professor Extraordinary. 
- Photo: Stephen Collett

Food stability is essential for stability in all countries around the world. Radical interventions, and not incremental changes, are necessary to end hunger and poverty in Africa, said Prof. Monty Jones, Professor Extraordinary in the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development at the University of the Free State (UFS), in his inaugural lecture.

Prof. Jones is Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and Chairperson of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR). In his lecture he focused on the contribution of agricultural research to development and food security in Sub- Saharan Africa.

He said Africa is not known for good politics to promote food production. Countries under invest in research, education, knowledge management, agriculture finance, etc. There is also uncertain and restricted access to land. He specially mentioned women’s access.

Sub- Sahara Africa moved from being a net exporter of food to a net importer of food (28%). “Government spending on agriculture and transport went down and stagnated. A mind shift is necessary. Africa has the resources. We must take advantage of the opportunities,” he said, and added: “Africa must create visionary and inspirational leaders and managers who can drive developmental issues.”

Prof. Jones emphasised that fact that nutritional security is just as important as food security. The number of hungry people has grown to more than a billion in 2009. Hunger is the most severe in the developing world, especially Africa. Added to this is Africa’s population growth that i s also higher than the rest of the world. It is estimated that the demand for food in Africa will double in the next 40 years.

“Research and development alone cannot win the war against hunger in Africa. Everyone has a role to play,” he said.
– Leatitia Pienaar.

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