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24 August 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
UFS vegetable garden
A variety of vegetables, including beans, spinach, onions, and carrots, are sheltered in 40 vegetable boxes in the two 300 m² tunnels opposite the Welwitschia Residence on the Bloemfontein Campus.

At the University of the Free State (UFS), research findings have indicated that 59% of students do not know where their next meal will come from. The recent COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the unemployment rate of 34,9%, adding to the likelihood of our students being affected even more by food insecurity. 

One of the initiatives the university has created to address the issue, is a vegetable production and training programme. The purpose of the programme, which was established by the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, KovsieACT, and the Food Environment Office, is to teach students how to produce vegetables. 

A variety of vegetables, including beans, spinach, onions, and carrots, are sheltered in 40 vegetable boxes in the two 300 m² tunnels opposite the Welwitschia Residence on the Bloemfontein Campus. Not only is this initiative providing students with fresh produce that supplements the food parcels they receive from the Food Environment Office through the No Student Hungry Project. It also provides them with the opportunity to get involved on a voluntary basis in the food production process, including the planting and harvesting of the vegetables. 

Food production is an important skill in growing one’s own food. Moreover, it is also a valuable skill for students to transfer to their communities back home.

From mid-August through to the end of October is planting season for a number of vegetables. Starting spring on a high note, the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, KovsieACT, and the Food Environment Office invited food security activist, Thabo Olivier, to address the university community and provide some valuable guidelines to grow your own food in innovative ways. 

Date: Thursday 1 September 2022
Time: 13:00
Venue: Thakaneng Bridge

Invest in your future and join the event, which will include hands-on harvesting from the vegetables gardens as well as a food demonstration. 

More information: Teddy Sibiya on SibiyaLT@ufs.ac.za at KovsieAct. 

Grow you own vegetables

News Archive

5 things you might not know about Elizabeth Molapo: Miss SA 2016 finalist
2015-11-20

Kovsies’ own beauty queen, Elizabeth Molapo

Elizabeth Lihotetso Molapo is a final-year BCom Economics student at the University of the Free State. The impeccably-beautiful 23-year-old is the only Bloemfontein representative among the top 12 contestants who have their eyes fixed on the Miss South Africa 2016 crown.

You might not know that:


1. Elizabeth was named after Queen Elizabeth 2, with whom she shares a birthday. Her middle name, “Lihotetso”, translates as “Fire”. Suffice it to say, her burning desire to learn - the pull factor for her embarking on the Miss SA 2016 journey - is a manifestation of her fate.

2. This is not her first time in the Miss SA competition. Last year, Elizabeth gave the Miss SA competition a try but unfortunately did not make very far.

3. Her childhood dream was to become a pediatrician. Economics won when she had to shadow at a hospital when she was in high school, and was horrified at the sight of blood. Elizabeth then decided: “This isn’t for me!”

4. “Enter Miss SA,” she recalls Rolene Strauss saying. The former Miss SA and current Miss World encouraged her to follow her dreams, and to aim for the most prestigious tiara in the country.

5. The last book she read was Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. It is also the next one she might read, as she has read it three times already.

Other Kovsies who have made strides in the beauty pageant realm include Rolene Strauss who was crowned Miss SA 2014 and Miss World 2015. Earlier this year, Relebohile Kobeli was also crowned Miss Lesotho 2015 and is now en route to Miss World International 2015 in China.

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