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'Growing your own food; stopping world hunger starts with you'

05 September 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Anja Aucamp

GROW your own Food — KovsieACT and the Food Environment Office, together with the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, presented a lunchtime event: GROW with food security activist, Thabo Olivier, at the Thakaneng Bridge on the Bloemfontein Campus.

There is nothing that says ‘spring’ quite like tree buds, blossoms, butterflies, and bees.

At the University of the Free State (UFS), spring was heralded this year by the dark red of beetroot, the orange of carrots, the green of fresh spinach, and the pale green of big, healthy cabbages, as staff and students celebrated GROW with Thabo Olivier on Spring Day.

UFS research findings indicated that almost two thirds of its students do not know where their next meal will come from. 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 Kovsie ACT in collaboration with the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development and the Food Environment Office, is to teach students how to produce vegetables.

In an effort to train the wider university community about food production in order to contribute to food security at the UFS, KovsieACT and the Food Environment Office, together with the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, presented a lunchtime event: GROW, with food security activist, Thabo Olivier, at the Thakaneng Bridge on the Bloemfontein Campus.

Reuse and repurpose

Olivier, who believes in reuse, reduce, recycle, and repurpose, is of the opinion that one can transform one’s waste into a sustainable garden. He will use what people throw away – from bottles to eggshells to cracked drums – to grow his vegetables. He also makes his own compost and organic pesticides consisting of garlic, chilies, and onions, boiled in water. The extract is then poured through a sieve and sprayed onto his crops through his self-made spray bottle – an old plastic 2 L bottle with holes (made with a pin) at the top.

According to him, no space is too small to grow food. He planted tomatoes in bottles and started his giant pumpkins of 300 to 400 kg in foamalite cups, later transplanting them into a bigger space.

Grow into it

Typing in ‘food insecurity’, one would find that a third of Pakistan is under water, meaning that a large part of their agricultural land has been washed away. According to the World Bank, record high food prices have triggered a global crisis that will drive millions more into extreme poverty, magnifying hunger and malnutrition. The global food crisis has been made worse by the growing number of food trade restrictions put in place by certain countries in reaction to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

In Olivier's view, people can only be enslaved through food insecurity. It is his opinion that small organic farms are the start of saving the world. He is planning to create a 100% food secure street in Bloemfontein. He would like to extend this to other suburbs and later to other cities. “Start small with one square metre and grow into it,” he says.

Qualify yourself

Olivier advised that it is important to equip yourself with knowledge. He recommended the short courses of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development, and Extension at the UFS. “Furthermore, if you do not know anything, you have access to all the information on the phones in your pockets. Find out where your passion lies and qualify yourself,” he says.

Olivier shared his four food growing commandments. He says a person with an excuse will never be able to produce; it is only the person who prepare that will prevail; what you put in is what you get out (also in life); and the best time to start is now.

Teaching others to grow their own food is an essential part of stopping world hunger. “Equip yourself with the knowledge and then teach someone else to plant their own food. If you want to be a leader, start teaching others to grow food. Lead by example and ensure food security,” he says

In an effort to combat food insecurity on campus, a vegetable production and training programme of the UFS not only provides its students with fresh produce, but it also gives them the opportunity to get involved on a voluntary basis in the food production process, including the planting and harvesting of the vegetables. Photo: Anja Aucamp

Harvest and taste

Carien Denner-Vorster from the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development did a food demonstration during which she made a beautiful coleslaw with cabbage and carrots from the gardens, which not only inspired students to make their own salad, but also provided the opportunity to taste.

The GROW with Thabo event also included the harvesting of vegetables, more specifically cabbage and spinach, in the gardens opposite Welwitschia Residence.

In 2019, Dr Jan Swanepoel, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development – with the help of Prof Michael Rudolph from the University of the Witwatersrand – obtained funding from Tiger Brands for two vegetable tunnels. Later, due to the success of the tunnels, Tiger Brands again assisted with the funding of two more tunnels on the UFS Lengau Experimental Farm. These tunnels are in the process of being completed.

Through KovsieAct, students from the residences can volunteer to get involved in the vegetable production programme. According to Annelize Visagie from the Food Environment Office, up to 80 students, most from the No Student Hungry (NSH) Programme, receive food after each three-day harvest. Anyone who would like to contribute to the NSH programme, can contact her at visagiea@ufs.ac.za

The GROW with Thabo event also included the harvesting of vegetables, more specifically cabbage and spinach

Carien Denner-Vorster from the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development did a food demonstration during which she made a beautiful coleslaw with cabbage and carrots from the gardens

GROW event, with food security activist, Thabo Olivier

News Archive

UFS Communication and Brand Management receives two prestigious international awards

2015-07-07

Lelanie de Wet, Lacea Loader and Leonie Bolleurs

The Department of Communication and Brand Management at the University of the Free State (UFS) received two of the six Gold Quill Awards – that were awarded to South African companies and institutions - at the International Association of Business Communicator’s (IABC) Excellence Gala ceremony in San Francisco, US on 15 June 2015.

The awards ceremony formed part of the 2015 IABC World Conference, which took place from 14-17 June 2015. The department received a Gold Quill Excellence Award for its social media campaign, UFS #FaceOfFacebook and a Gold Quill Merit Award for the B Safe Take Action campaign.

From the 15 countries that entered, a total of 120 Gold Quill Excellence awards and 189 Gold Quill Merit awards were awarded. Other South African award winners included Barclays Africa Group Limited, Mediclinic and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).

This is the second year in a row that the UFS has been recognised by the IABC for its communication projects. In 2014, the department was awarded the Jake Wittmer Research Award for a Stakeholder Perception Audit conducted in February 2014. The audit was considered – by the IABC - as one of the best breakthrough strategies used by a university to measure the perceptions of its stakeholders.This made the UFS the first tertiary institution in Africa to receive the research award. The stakeholder perception audit also received an Africa Gold Quill in 2014.

"Being recognised by a global association such as the IABC for the second time, is a great honour and I am very proud of what my colleagues have achieved by entering the two campaigns. Winning the awards is a true indication of what can be done when a team of expert communicators is committed towards engaging their target audiences with campaigns that speak of quality and innovation. The fact that the UFS is one of only two tertiary education institutions in the country to receive these prestigious awards, makes it even more special," said Lacea Loader, Director: Communication and Brand Management at the UFS.

IABC World and Africa conferences 2015

The IABC is a global membership association with a network of 12 000 members in more than 80 countries, representing many of the Global Fortune 500 companies. It serves professionals in the field of business communication, bringing together the profession’s collective disciplines.

With the theme: Changing landscape: Informing the future, the 2015 world conference was attended by over 1 200 delegates from across the world. Delegates were offered an opportunity for learning, discovering, and connecting. Loader also made a presentation entitled ‘Award-winning measurement endorses sound reputation management strategy’ at the world conference.

The department will also be receiving two Africa Gold Quill Awards from the Africa chapter of the IABC for the same campaigns on 30 July 2015 in Johannesburg.

UFS #FaceOfFacebook Campaign

The university received a Gold Quill Excellence Award for its social media campaign, UFS #FaceOfFacebook. This initiative originated in the university’s commitment to its Human Project, which sets the standard for good behaviour and care.

Lelanie de Wet, Manager: Social Media and Website Content and project leader of UFS #FaceOfFacebook, said the project was born from the need to communicate with students. Thus a virtual friend, #FaceOfFacebook, was created. “Yearly auditions are being held to choose the new face representing the UFS on Facebook. Short video clips of the #FaceOfFacebook – whether it is attending events or communicating important messages - are posted on the UFS Facebook page. The successful candidate holds the title #FaceOfFacebook for 12 months.

“When I look at a campaign such as #FaceOfFacebook, from the time it took its first tentative steps in 2013, and see how it inspired staff and students alike, my heart swells with pride. Often you can see the impact you have made only in retrospect. The ripples you send into the world will inevitably create waves,” she said.

B Safe Take Action Campaign

The B Safe Take Action campaign of the university received a Gold Quill Merit award from the IABC.

The campaign was activated in September 2013. “It targeted on- and off-campus students and staff, aiming to create social ownership of personal safety, and to raise awareness of the safety measures put in place by the university,” said Leonie Bolleurs, Manager: Internal Communication and project manager of the campaign.

The campaign looked at a number of safety aspects, focusing not only on crime but also on being safe from road accidents and stress/burnout.

It is the second time this year that the BSafe campaign has been recognised for its innovative strategy. Earlier this year it received a PRISM Award (Gold) from the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA). The annual PRISM Awards are about recognising and celebrating great public relations campaigns.

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