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16 October 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Qinisani Qwabe, one of the Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans, considers it important to always reach out and contribute to someone's life, no matter how small it may be.

Looking back at 2020, most people will not have fond memories. But for Qinisani Qwabe, a second-year PhD student in the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development and Extension, 2020 turned out to be a good year.

On 10 September, he heard that he was selected as one of the Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans in the education category. As if being elected as one of the prestigious group of young people is not enough, Qwabe added another feather in his cap when he was chosen as one of 21 young scientists by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), in collaboration with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI). 

When offered the chance to represent South Africa at a BRICS Conference in Russia, he seized the opportunity with both hands. At this virtual event, he presented a paper on a topic he cares about a lot – ecology. His paper, using a South African case study, was titled: The role of agrobiodiversity on environmental management and its impact on human ecology.

Sustainable resources

From an early age, growing up in a very isolated community called iSihuzu on the outskirts of Richards Bay, Qwabe worked hard. He not only reaped the rewards by seeing all his tuition fees paid, but he was also offered opportunities to make a difference in society. 

“I want to see a society that leads a sustainable life and values its natural resources. This is what wakes me up every morning. That is what I am working towards,” he says.

Qwabe has a registered organisation that, among others, seeks to achieve agricultural biodiversity, respect and value for local knowledge, sustainable development, as well as youth and community engagement.  

The organisation has two legs – one dealing with agricultural production and the other focusing on social entrepreneurship. “As part of this social entrepreneurship initiative, we are working with schools in the north of KwaZulu-Natal, where we do outreach programmes (e.g. donating school uniforms), and run projects driven towards sustainability,” says Qwabe.

But he believes that it is his voice on indigenous foods, together with his passion for research – complemented by community development initiatives – that contributed to his selection as one of Mail & Guardian’s top 200 Young South Africans. 

A greater vision

He is happy to be in the academia and believes that it will propel him towards his greater vision. 

“My vision for my future is to be well-known for my contributions on matters of environmental sustainability, and equally so, for community development. Parallel to my philanthropic undertakings, I envision being a leader in one of the leading organisations on environmental sustainability, such as the World Health Organisation's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO),” says Qwabe. 

Here he would like to focus his energies on food security, nutrition, and food safety; sustainable management and use of natural resources and forestry; and institutional capacity building for the sustained management of natural resources and increased agriculture production.

The next generation

Qwabe believes he is making an impact and building a solid foundation for the upcoming generations to build upon.  He urges the youth of South Africa to strive to make a difference. “No matter how small it might seem,” he says.

“To borrow from the American songwriter, Michael Jackson – WE are the world. And that 'WEness' denotes that each one of us has a role to play.

 

 

News Archive

Students take part in prestigious programme at Stanford University
2013-08-05

 

Ready for Stanford. From the left are: Patricia Mapipi, SinazoMabunu, Claudio Carlos, Elzahn van der Westhuizen, Stefan van der Westhuizen and Zakariyya Patel.
Photo: Jerry Mokoroane
05 August 2013

At the end of August 2013 six Kovsies will depart for Stanford Sophomore College in San Francisco, USA, to take part in a prestigious residential programme. The programme stems from a key partnership between the UFS and Stanford University.

This programme involves the most talented second-year undergraduate students from both the UFS and Oxford universities joining the Stanford Sophomore College.These students spend over two weeks during the USA summer recess engaged in a programme which concentrates on the academic studying of innovative and multidisciplinary topics.

The Kovsies students selected for the 2013 programme are: Patricia Mapipi and Sinazo Mabunu from the Faculty of the Humanities; Claudio Carlos and Elzahn van der Westhuizen from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences; and Stefan van der Westhuizen and Zakariyya Patel from the Faculty of Health Sciences.

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