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
01 July 2020
The composition of the UFS Council is stipulated in the UFS Statute, which was published in the Government Gazette on 26 January 2018 and amended by publication in the Government Gazette on 29 March 2019.

The Convocation has to elect one (1) external (neither employee nor student of the UFS) representative to the Council to represent the Convocation and Alumni on Council, following the expiry of the term of office of the current representative on 23 November 2020. The elected representative will serve for a period of four years on Council.

The Convocation comprises all persons who obtained a formal qualification from the UFS, as  well as all permanent academic staff members.

Members of the Convocation are invited to submit written nominations by using the Nomination Form attached hereto.
 
Every nomination form must be signed by 4 (four) members of the Convocation and must contain the written acceptance of the nomination by the nominee under his/her signature, as
well as an abridged CV and a motivation of ± 200 words.

All nominations must reach the office of the Registrar no later than 16:30 on 4 September 2020.
 
If more than one person is nominated an election will be held as stipulated in the Institutional Rules.  More information regarding this process will follow at that stage. 


Nominations are to be submitted to:
 
• or by post (strongly advised not to use this method due to delays):
Mr NN Ntsababa  
Registrar
University of the Free State
PO Box 339
Bloemfontein
9300

• or hand-delivered to:   (depending on the lockdown level and the regulations that are in place).
Mr NN Ntsababa
Room 51, 1st Floor
Main Building
UFS Bloemfontein Campus
 

For enquiries, please contact Mr NN Ntsababa at registrar@ufs.ac.za or +27 51 401 3796.

Kindly take note that late or incomplete nominations will not be accepted or considered.
Every nomination must be submitted separately.

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.

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