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Dr Hlami Ngwenya contributes to sustainable agriculture on the continent

11 May 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Dr Ngwena_web read more — Dr Hlami Ngwenya believes that the UFS has a key role to play in Africa.

Dr Hlami Ngwenya, Lecturer in the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development at the University of the Free State (UFS), describes herself as a social scientist and global citizen – having worked in more than 50 countries, with more than 30 years of experience.

She is equipping students to make a difference in their communities, whether it is here in South Africa, or in other countries in Africa where they reside and beyond. Dr Ngwenya joined the UFS in 2015, teaching the Advanced Diploma on Extension for Sustainability and the Master’s Programme on Sustainable Agriculture and Extension: Theory and Practice.

Investing in farmers’ human capital globally

She has made major contributions to the field with her research work. In 2020, she contributed a chapter on ‘Food and Agriculture’ in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report on COVID-19 Rapid Emergency Needs Assessment for the most vulnerable groups. In addition, she was part of a global study titled, Investing in farmers: Agriculture Human Capital Investment (AHCI) strategies, conducted in partnership with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO Investment Centre).

The latter study was conducted in nine countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The aim was to improve the understanding of AHCI. The study also provides lessons learned from successful AHCI models around the world, with recommendations and guidelines for future investment that enhances the human capital of agricultural producers.

This year, she is working on a research paper titled, Demystifying facilitation of systemic change and the role of agriculture extension towards sustainable development and resilient food systems: analytical, conceptual and theoretical underpinnings.

Her input is also valued by paramount bodies in the industry, such as the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS). Dr Ngwenya is a member of the GFRAS Consortium for Education and Training, and she is playing a significant role in terms of agricultural extension and advisory services at a global level.

Global tool with local relevance

She is also one of the faces behind the globally developed New Extensionist Learning Kit. Commonly known as NELK, this GFRAS product was created as a tool to augment and equip agricultural extension personnel with the functional skills relevant to managing the complexities of agricultural innovation and food systems.

The UFS Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development is one of the leading institutions globally that has adopted and adapted NELK as part of its curriculum. The South African Society for Agricultural Extension (SASAE) has also adopted the kit to contribute towards the continuous professional development of extension personnel.

On the African continent, Dr Ngwenya has been a resource person for the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) and supported the development of agricultural extension and advisory services fora at regional and national levels.

Here on home soil, she continues to be involved with SASAE, supporting them in facilitating their strategic planning processes and professionalisation activities.

Spreading her wings beyond extension

Beyond her active involvement in the agricultural extension field, Dr Ngwenya is a role player in other areas of agriculture globally. This includes agricultural policy, agricultural research, as well as agricultural education. She brings all this knowledge and skills to benefit her students and the university.

In her lifetime, she has had the opportunity to moderate more than 300 multi-stakeholder engagements, including strategic planning sessions, organisational development, team building, training, and conferences. These include high-level policy dialogues at United Nations level, the African Union Commission, and other continental and regional level organisations.

Humbleness is empowering

Although she had the chance to travel the world and engage at the highest level, she believes that it is important to be humble. She makes an effort to respect and cherish people for who they are, their cultures, and different systems.

“One of the most valuable lessons I have learnt through engaging in many African countries, is that there is not necessarily co-relation between a country’s strong economy and human capital.” Despite the socio-political challenges that many countries go through (including ours), there are many genuine, hard-working, and intelligent people out there,” she says.

News Archive

UFS to investigate implementation of quality-monitoring system for SA food industry

2006-02-07

Some of the guests who attended the workshop were from the left Prof James du Preez (Chairperson: Department of Biotechnology at the UFS); Prof Lodewyk Kock (Head: South African Fryer Oil Initiative (SAFOI) at the UFS)); Mrs Ina Wilken (Chairperson: South African National Consumer Union (SANCU)); Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS) and Mr Joe Hanekom (Managing Director of Agri Inspec).
Photo: Stephen Collet

UFS to investigate implementation of quality-monitoring system for SA food industry

The University of the Free State (UFS) will be investigating the implementation of a quality-monitoring service for the South African food industry.

This was decided during a workshop to discuss the external quality monitoring in the edible oil industry of South Africa, which was recently held at the UFS.

Major role players in the fast-food sector like Nando's, Spur, Captain
Dorego's, King Pie Holdings, Black Steer Holdings, etc and various oil
distributors like Felda Bridge Africa, Refill Oils, PSS Oils and Ilanga Oils attended
the workshop. Also present was Mrs Ina Wilken, Chairperson of the South African National Consumer Union (SANCU) and key-note speaker of this workshop. She represented the consumer.

These role players all pledged their support to the implementation of this quality- monitoring system for the whole food industry.

The decision to implement this system follows the various malpractices reported in the press and on TV concerning food adulteration (eg the recent Sudan Red Scare), misrepresentation (eg olive oil scandal exposed in 2001) and the misuse of edible frying oils by the fast-food sector.

“One of the basic rights of consumers is the right to safe food. Consumers must be protected against foods and food production processes which are hazardous to their health. Sufficient guarantee of the safety of all food products and food production processes should be implemented. It does not help to have adequate food standards and legislation and there is no manpower to do the necessary investigation or monitoring,” said Mrs Wilken.

The South African Fryer Oil Initiative (SAFOI), under the auspices of the UFS Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, currently monitors edible oils in the food industry and makes a seal of quality available to food distributors.

“Last week’s decision to implement the quality-monitoring system implies that we will now be involving also other departments in the UFS Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences who are involved in various aspects of the food chain in an endeavor to implement this quality monitoring system,” said Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS and one of the main speakers at the workshop.

Prof van Schalkwyk said that the main aim of such a system will be to improve the competitiveness of the South African food industry. “It is clear that the role players attending the workshop are serious about consumer service and that they agree that fraudulent practice should be monitored and corrected as far as possible. Although some of the food outlets have the capacity to monitor the quality of their food, it may not seem to the consumer that this is an objective process. The proposed external monitoring system would counteract this perception amongst consumers,” said Prof van Schalkwyk.

The workshop was also attended by representatives from SAFOI and Agri Inspec, a forensic investigation company collaborating with inter-state and government structures to combat fraud and international trade irregularities.

Agri Inspec has been working closely with SAFOI for a number of years to test the content of edible oils and fats. “Extensive monitoring and control actions have been executed in the edible oil industry during the past four years to ensure that the content and labeling of oil products are correct. Four years ago almost 90% of the samples taken indicated that the content differed from what is indicated on the label. This has changed and the test results currently show that 90% of the products tested are in order. However, to maintain this quality standard, it is necessary that quality monitoring and educational campaigns are continuously performed,” said Mr Joe Hanekom, Managing Director of Agri Inspec.

“The seal of quality presented by SAFOI should also be extended to include all the smaller oil containers used by households,” Mrs Wilken said.

The SAFOI seal of quality is currently displayed mainly on some oil brands packed in bigger 20 liter containers, which include sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, palm oil etc which are used by restaurants and fast food outlets. “Any oil type is eligible to display the seal when meeting certain standards of authenticity. In order to display the seal, the distributor must send a sample of each oil batch they receive from the manufacturer to SAFOI for testing for authenticity, ie that the container’s content matches the oil type described on the label. This is again double checked by Agri Inspec, which also draws samples countrywide from these certified brands from the end-user (restaurant or fast food outlets). If in breach, the seal must be removed from the faulty containers,” said Prof Lodewyk Kock, Head of SAFOI.

“It should however be taken into account that oils without a seal of quality from the UFS can still be of high quality and authentic. Other external laboratories equipped to perform effective authenticity tests may also be used in this respect,” said Prof Kock.

“It is also important to realise that any oil type of quality such as sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, palm oil etc can be used with great success in well controlled frying processes,” he said.

Further discussions will also be held with the Department of Health, the SA National Consumer Union and Agri Inspec to determine priority areas and to develop the most effective low-cost monitoring system.

More information on the UFS oil seal of quality and oil use can be obtained at www.uovs.ac.za/myoilguide

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

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