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Dr Johan Coetzee nominated as senior member of the Pan-African Scientific Research Council

25 February 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Supplied

Dr Johan Coetzee_web read more — Dr Johan Coetzee of the UFS nominated as senior member of the Pan-African Scientific Research Council.

Dr Johan Coetzee, Senior Lecturer and researcher in the Department of Economics and Finance and the UFS Business School at the University of the Free State, has been nominated as a senior member of the Pan-African Scientific Research Council. Dr Coetzee has also been a visiting senior lecturer at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences since 2008. He has published extensively in several local and international journals focusing on banking in particular, and recently also on the impact of fintech developments on the strategic goals of banks. Dr Coetzee’s research interests include understanding the dynamics of bank-client relationships, especially in a banking environment that is increasingly becoming digital.

The main goals of the Pan-African Scientific Research Council are to highlight excellence in research on the African continent, to promote career development of young scholars, and to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. Members have been selected for their proven excellence in research, potential for growth, and ability to contribute to engagement with policy makers on the African continent. The council will also strive to influence evidence-based policy making in Africa, and to communicate scientific research to a wide audience through public engagement.

The council includes leading scholars in social sciences from not only across the African continent, but from top universities in the world such as Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Stanford, and Princeton universities. Researchers from institutions such as the Bank of Canada, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa further constitute the makeup of the council.

“I am extremely proud to be part of the inaugural cohort of the Pan-African Scientific Research Council, as it provides a valuable platform to share ideas with fellow African scholars who understand the economic and management challenges faced by our continent,” Dr says Coetzee.

“Africa sits with a wealth of talented scholars who merely need the platform to engage and to be part of this research council will surely set the tone for more meaningful research collaboration that solves unique African problems,” he added. “In a world entering a post-COVID-19 environment, we have an opportunity here to not only latch onto the opportunities offered by technology and all that comes with it, but also to do so in a way that showcases the quality of the Academic Project that is proudly African.”

News Archive

UFS first to mechanise agricultural technique

2006-05-09

Small farmers from Thaba `Nchu were the biggest group attending the farmers day at the UFS Paradys experimental farm. From the left are Mr David Motlhale (a small farmer from Thaba 'Nchu), Prof Leon van Rensburg (lecturer at the UFS Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences and project leader), Mr Nhlonipho Nhlabatsi (Agricultural Research Council, Glen), Ms Meisie Mthethwa (small farmer from Bloemspruit). In front is Mr Patrick Molatodi (chairperson of the Tswelopele Small Farmer Association).

Some of the participants of the farmers day at the UFS Paradys experimental farm were from the left Prof Leon van Rensburg (lecturer at the UFS Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences and project leader, Mr Patrick Molatodi (chairperson of the Tswelopele Small Farmers Association) and Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: UFS Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences).

UFS first tertiary institution in world to mechanise agricultural technique
The University of the Free State (UFS) is the first tertiary institution in the world to mechanise the in-field rain water harvesting technique on a commercial scale.

The technique was recently demonstrated to about 100 small farmers at the UFS Paradys experimental farm outside Bloemfontein.

“With this technique rain water is channeled to the plant and in this way food security is increased. The advantage of the technique for commercial farmers lies in the reduced cultivation of land. Small farmers will benefit from this because they can now move out into the fields and away from farming in their back yards,” says Prof Leon van Rensburg, lecturer at the UFS Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences and project leader.

Rain water harvesting is an antique concept that was used by communities before the birth of Christ. In South Africa the technique is mainly used in the plots of small farmers where they make surface structures by hand.

"The technique is also used for the first time by the UFS on commercial scale by means of the cultivation of a summer crop on 100 ha at the Paradys experimental farm,” says Prof Leon van Rensburg,

Of the farmers who attended the farmers day most represented about 42 rural communities in the vicinity of Thaba ‘Nchu. A group of seven from KwaZulu-Natal also attended the proceedings. These small farmers can for example apply this technique successfully on the 250-300 ha communal land that is available in the Thaba ‘Nchu area.

The project is funded by the UFS and the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the farmers’ day was funded by the Water Research Commission.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
9 May 2006

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