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04 February 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Charl Devenish
Kovsie Eco vehicle parade
A highlight for first-year and senior students is the ACT eco-vehicle building and parade through the streets of Bloemfontein.

Sunny skies, cheerful faces, and an overall great atmosphere surfed the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus on Saturday, 1 February 2020 for the final series of events in the Kovsie ACT 2020 line-up.

The eco-vehicle parade kick-started the activities for the day and saw various student teams displaying their personalised pit-stop ‘sculptures’ along the streets of Bloemfontein.  UFS residence teams Sonverlief (Houses Sonnedou, Veritas, Madelief); Soetmarmentum (Houses Soetdoring, Marjolein, Armentum); and Beykasium (Houses Beyers Naudé, Akasia, Imperium) came in first, second, and third respectively, obtaining the highest scores out of nine teams for their pit-stop sculpture constructions. 
 
Following the parade, there were a number of fun but competitive eco-vehicle races between the teams. This included the Drag Race, Obstacle Course Race, Formula E Race, Endurance Race, and the Slalom Course Race that took place on the Mokete Square. 

In the evening, students were serenaded by artists such as Early B and Spoegwolf. They danced to performances from the latest Amapiano music sensation, Kabza de Small, and legendary deep-house music duo, Black Motion, at the Rag Farm. 

Assistant Director of UFS Student Life and Director of the Kovsie ACT office, Karen Scheepers, earlier urged students to get more involved in student-life programmes such as Kovsie ACT, in order to equip themselves with a variety of skills and a fulfilling university experience.

A number of senior and first-year students who were part of the action on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus this past Saturday, can attest to Scheepers’ advice.
“I’ve been looking forward to starting university for the longest time, and I am glad that I ended up at the UFS. I don’t feel alone, I feel like I can actually do this,” said first-year Psychology student, Thulisa Shezi.

“University isn’t as bad as everyone thinks it is, it’s just a matter of staying motivated, doing your work, and surrounding yourself with the right people in the process.” – Fourth-year Business Management student, Earl van der Westhuisen.

News Archive

Centre for Sustainable Agriculture to focus 20 years’ experience on food security
2014-12-04

 

The University of the Free State (UFS) Centre for Sustainable Agriculture is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. According to Prof Izak Groenewald, professor in this centre, their vision in future will be to focus on food security.

Besides the centre’s role in training people to make a contribution to food security, Prof Groenewald and his team adapted the learning programmes to add mobility to its qualifications – students can now obtain qualifications in short courses up to PhD qualifications.

Short courses include:
• Introduction to Innovation and Rural Development
• Foundational Theories in Livestock Production
• Sustainable Plant Production

Persons interested in the Advanced Diploma in Sustainable Agriculture, can register for the following modules:
• Fundamentals of Rural Development
• Fundamentals of Agricultural Economics
• Sustainable Plant Production Practices
• Sustainable Animal Production Practices
• Basic written communication and presentation skills

Focus areas in the master’s degree programme are:
• Agribusiness management
• Value adding
• Rural development
• Plant production
• Animal production

The Centre for Sustainable Agriculture regards partnerships with institutions abroad as vitally important. For this reason, partnerships have already been fromed with the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), the University of Minnesota and the National Department of Agriculture.

Persons obtaining qualifications at the centre will be able to find employment in the following fields:
• Project management and planning
• Rural development sociology
• Livestock production systems
• Advisors in the agricultural sector of commercial banks
• Commercial and emerging farmers
• Extension services with government departments as link between farmer and government
• Lecturers
• Researchers

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