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02 June 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo UFS Photo Archive
Prof Melanie Walker, an A1-rated researcher, is one of the foremost academics in human development and education studies.
Prof Melanie Walker, Distinguished Professor in the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State (UFS), has been elected as President of the Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA). This is the first time that the HDCA president is from the Global South. 

The HDCA is an international association for academics and practitioners who, according to Prof Walker, “seek to create an intellectual community around the ideas of human development and the capability approach and relate these ideas to development practices and the policy arena”. 

Prof Walker holds the SARChi Chair in Higher Education and Human Development, and is one of three A-rated National Research Foundation (NRF) researchers at the UFS. She follows in the illustrious footsteps of previous HDCA presidents, including esteemed academics such as Prof Martha Nussbaum, who received an honorary doctorate from the UFS in 2012, and Nobel prize winner, Amartya Sen. 

An established UFS presence 

Since its inception in 2004, Prof Walker has been involved with the HDCA through various positions and roles, thus establishing a strong UFS presence within the organisation. “We already have a strong research presence in the HDCA through the group I have established at the UFS, which is now well-known and highly respected,” Prof Walker says. She is also hopeful that more researchers from the UFS may consider joining the HDCA and developing human development-focused research partnerships with others in the HDCA.

Highlighting Global South issues 

Through her new position as president-elect of the HDCA from September 2021, she wants to expand the reach and responsiveness of the HDCA in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). “In Southern Africa we have a growing community, but we need to be stronger elsewhere.  This would provide the platform to take forward public debates about inequalities as obstacles to sustainable human development,” Prof Walker says.  However, these problems and challenges occur everywhere in a world of “growing inequalities and exclusions”. 

In these COVID-19 times, a focus on human development seems more needed than ever - Prof Melanie Walker 

Apart from expanding the presence of the HDCA in SSA together with its executive, Prof Walker hopes to “further strengthen the organisation and its research, practice and policy ‘voice’, and its capacity-building activities. I would also like to put ideas from decoloniality and the North-South knowledge inequalities on the table, as well as our knowledge-producing practices.” 

The global presence of the HDCA 

The international footprint of the HDCA is extensive, with members in more than 70 countries. The organisation hosts an annual international conference, bringing together various thematic groups, regional networks, and holds regular webinars and workshops. It also publishes the peer-reviewed Journal of Human Development and Capabilities.  The HDCA promotes research within a vast array of disciplines, ranging from economics to philosophy, development studies, health, education, law, government, and sociology.  “The HDCA takes forward significant capabilitarian scholarship with shared purposes to advance knowledge, development practices, and policy in and for human development,” Prof Walker says. 

The organisation aims to challenge the narrow understanding of economic growth as the end of development, and of human capital production as the prime purpose of education. “In these COVID-19 times, a focus on human development seems more needed than ever,” Prof Walker says. 

News Archive

Breeding of unique game requires a balance between conservation and sustainable use
2014-05-20

 

Game bred for qualities such as unconventional hair colour or horn quality, may on the long term have unexpected consequences for biodiversity and game farming.

This is according to the inaugural lecture of Prof Paul Grobler from the Department of Genetics at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof Grobler feels that the consequences of selective breeding should be examined carefully, as there is currently much speculation on the subject without sound scientific information to back it.

“At the moment, colour variation invokes much interest among game farmers and breeders. Unusual colour variants are already available in different game species. These unusual animals usually fetch much higher prices at auctions compared to prices for the ‘normal’ individuals of the species.”

Examples of these unusual variants are springbuck being bred in white, black or copper colours, the black-backed or ‘saddleback’ impala, and the gold-coloured and royal wildebeest.

A black-backed impala was recently sold for R5,7 million.

“Based on genetic theory, good reason exists why these practices need to be monitored, but one should also take care not to make the assumption that selective breeding will inevitably lead to problems,” warns Prof Grobler.

Grobler says that negative characteristics in a species can sometimes unwittingly be expressed during the selection process for a unique colour. “It is seen, for example, in purebred dogs where the breeding of a new race sometimes brings underlying genetic deviations in the species to the front.” He also believes that some of these animals may not be able to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

“However, one should also look at the positive side: because of the good demand for game, including unusual variants, there is much more game in South Africa today than in many decades. Balance should be found between the aims of conservation and the sustainable utilisation of game.”

Research at the UFS’s Department of Genetics is now trying to establish the genetic effects of intensive game breeding and predict the impact on biodiversity.

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