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Africa – the continent of mountain archipelagos

25 May 2020 | Story Dr Ralph Clark | Photo Charl Devenish

Afromontane_read more — Afromontane research area in the Eastern Free State.

Africa could be called ‘the continent of mountain archipelagos’ for the unusual fact that most of Africa's mountains are isolated ‘islands’ rather than linear, continuous mountain systems such as those in Asia (e.g. the Himalayas), Europe (e.g. the Alps), and the Americas (e.g. Rockies and Andes). Even in Southern Africa, where we have the linear Great Escarpment (5 000 km long), this system is so old that it has been breached in innumerable places by erosion into a series of independent mountain blocks.

The result of this mountain disconnection is that Africa's mountains display biodiversity patterns more akin to islands than to mountains: rich, exciting, and unique, and full of very localised and interesting species. Likewise, mountain communities have established and evolved unique cultural ways of life and traditions in their particular mountains – isolated from other groups on other mountains. But in some mountains, internecine warfare and tribal conflict caused mountains to become boundaries rather than welcoming places. This was certainly the case during the Mfecane in Southern Africa, ultimately leading to the birth of Lesotho as the ‘Mountain Kingdom’. Colonialism took this to a new level, and – for most of Africa – mountains became international borders between empires, splitting ethnic groups into several nationalities and marginalising large segments of the population in these new countries. This same geopolitical situation continues today, with major implications for the sustainable management of mountain ecosystem services, natural capital, and socio-cultural sustainability in multinational contexts.

The Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) – a continental leader in African mountain research – seeks to explore these socio-ecological complexities in terms of sustainable development, providing research that can help to secure a positive future for the people, biodiversity, and goods and services provided by Africa's mountains. As part of its mission, the ARU is leading the way in encouraging a multidisciplinary community of practice that will drive a science-policy-action interface for Southern African mountains in decades to come. As virtually all of Africa's water comes from its mountains, this is a critical service to a region increasingly at risk from drought and the socio-political implications of rivers and taps running dry.

Although the Qwaqwa Campus is the home of the ARU, the ARU is welcoming affiliations from across the UFS and beyond. Should you wish to become affiliated to the ARU, please contact the Director, Dr Ralph Clark at ClarkVR@ufs.ac.za. Visit the new ARU's website

News Archive

Early nutrition impacts on burden of disease

2017-11-15

Prof Corinna Walsh during her inaugural lecture on ‘Nutrition in Transition’.
Photo: Stephen Collett

“The first 1 000 days, from conception to two years, is a critical time to ensure that the early environment is optimal to guarantee the best outcomes,” Prof Corinna Walsh, Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Free State (UFS), said. She delivered her inaugural lecture on Nutrition in Transition on 30 October 2017.

During her lecture, Prof Walsh explained how an unfavourable early environment impacts on the health and well-being of both children and adults. She gave an overview of the prevalence of hunger and food insecurity in the Free State, and described the shift that has occurred from healthier traditional diets to more unhealthy Western diets accompanied by sedentary lifestyles. These patterns are closely linked to the triple burden of malnutrition, including undernutrition, micro-nutrient malnutrition, and obesity. Finally, Prof Walsh highlighted the double burden of disease, focusing on chronic lifestyle diseases on the one hand, and infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and TB on the other hand.

“Preparing for this lecture has given me the opportunity to reflect on the almost thirty years of my research journey, a process that I thoroughly enjoyed,” said Prof Walsh.

“It was a privilege to share the work of my research team with fellow colleagues as well as with family and friends,” she said. Prof Walsh is a National Research Foundation C-rated researcher and also served on the Board of the Medical Research Council from 2005 to 2010.

Foundations for health, growth established early
The first 1 000-day window focuses on the time between conception and the second birthday. “This is a critical period for growth and development,” Prof Walsh said. It is a unique period, as the foundations for health, growth, and neuro-development are established. It also focused on the implications of malnutrition, which is the biggest risk factor contributing to the global burden of disease.

Research identifies burden of disease
Her research has made a considerable contribution to identifying the burden of disease in the Free State. “It focuses on both malnutrition and infectious diseases such as HIV and TB on the one hand, and chronic lifestyle diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension on the other,” she said. The research team have also implemented a number of interventions to address these challenges, including programmes that have assessed the impact of nutrition-education programmes, household food gardens, and nutrition supplementation.

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