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New ARC-DALLRD-UFS research chair to focus on food and nutrition security

07 August 2024 | Story André Damons | Photo André Damons

Dr Alba du Toit, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, is leading the newly established Innovative ARC-DALLRD-UFS Agro-processing for Climate-smart Food System research chair at the UFS.

The Innovative Agro-processing for Climate-smart Food System research chair, one of four ARC-DALLRD-UFS research chairs recently established at the University of the Free State (UFS), will focus on innovative agro-processing technologies that could affect food and nutrition security. The chair’s work will also focus on improving food systems that can impact socioeconomic development.

In a concerted effort to address the challenges and effects of climate change in Southern Africa, the UFS, together with the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), established four new research chairs within the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (NAS).

The other research chairs are Climate Change and Agriculture, Agriculture Risk Financing and Sustainable Livestock Production and together with the Innovative Agro-processing for Climate-smart Food System research chair, and fall under the umbrella of climate change. They will also be part of the centre of excellence of the ARC and DALRRD on Climate Smart Agriculture.

Dr Alba du Toit, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, will lead the Innovative Agro-processing for Climate-smart Food System research chair and says the chair allows researchers to dedicate their time and effort towards research. It consolidates expertise, resources, and facilities to strengthen the research team’s capacity and will have a strong foundation for sustainable development goals. The chair provides a hub for collaboration between the UFS, ARC and DALLRD to focus on regionally engaged research with maximum societal impact.

The chair, which officially started on 1 July, also allows researchers to do trans- and multi-disciplinary, relevant and cutting-edge research.

Nixtamalisation could transform the food system

“We believe that nixtamalisation could transform the food system. However, the consumer’s willingness to adopt and embrace new products and techniques is dependent on the success of the initiative.

“Thus, innovations in new product development must be consumer-led since the consumer is constantly evolving, making it imperative to understand consumer behaviour and motivations behind decision-making,” says Dr Du Toit.

The nixtamalisation process, she explains, is a multistep technique commonly employed in Mexico, Central America and the southern regions of the US to transform maize into food products. The nixtamalisation process alters the physicochemical, nutritional and sensory properties of maize products by increasing protein quality, improving the content of calcium, magnesium and potassium and reducing mycotoxin levels.”

According to Dr Du Toit, by using the principles of circular food design, they will develop products that could provide solutions and support the food system. It involves using processing technologies that could be applied and implemented by anyone with access to a basic kitchen.

“This would benefit rural farmers and communities, small-scale and emerging farmers to provide food for themselves and become economically active small business owners. We believed the right product could not only influence the food security and well-being of individual households but also stimulate entrepreneurial action, which could benefit the community and overcome barriers to make nixtamalisation an acceptable practice for all,” says Dr Du Toit.

Maize and sorghum

“Maize and sorghum are staple crops in South Africa that are not being utilised to their full potential. South Africa is well known for its maize production, and it is the staple for most of the population in the form of pap. However, the reliance on pap exaggerates the issues of food and nutrition insecurity because pap cooked from Super Maize Meal is deficient in nutrients and often consumed in isolation without diversification in the diet.

“Sorghum is another cereal crop that is climate-smart, drought-resistant and suited in South Africa’s arid and semi-arid areas, while it offers good nutritional value. However, most consumers are not familiar with the crop except for its application as an instant porridge. Nixtamalisation is a process that could benefit consumers as maize and sorghum could be transformed into nutritious, safe meals directly from the farm to the fork,” explains Dr Du Toit.

Home-grown dried whole maize kernels, she continues, could be converted into safe and delicious meals in homes using basic equipment as it is widely and effectively done in Mexico by rural women. The research will determine if consumers would accept the process of nixtamalisation, whether the products would be acceptable, and if the nutritional value would be comparable to commercial products.

Some of the news consumer-acceptable products already developed, include maize chips, dehydrated phutu pap, and corndogs. Currently, the team is working on maize-milk, maize-milk frozen dessert and a custard tart. Maize products have the advantage of being lactose- and gluten-free and thus would appeal to consumers of plant-based products.

Societal impact

Dr Du Toit says she is excited about the societal impact this project will have on communities and the country and is hopeful that they will be able to influence policymakers and the industry to provide more nutritious staples that could be “game-changers” for the sake of society. She is looking forward to collaborating with DALRRD, the ARC and the grain industry to ensure that partnerships are strengthened and new opportunities are created for the staff and students.

Prof Wilna Oldewage-Theron, a Professor of Nutrition in the College of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University, will join the research chair next year as the co-leader. She has experience in community nutrition research in Africa, and her research interests include the factors contributing to household food insecurity and malnutrition in resource-poor communities. She will be focused on the nutritional benefits of soy for human health.

Prof Maryke Labuschagne, who is leading the NRF SARChI Chair in Diseases and Quality of Field Crops and who is passionate about impacting malnutrition, has been appointed as mentor for the chair.

News Archive

Studies to reveal correlation between terrain, energy use, and giraffe locomotion

2016-11-18

More than half of giraffes in captivity in Europe are afflicted by lameness. This high prevalence represents an important welfare issue, similar to other large zoo animals.

According to Dr Chris Basu, a veterinarian at the Royal Veterinary College in the UK, giraffes in captivity are often afflicted by overgrown hooves, laminitis and joint problems. Diagnosis and treatment is limited by our understanding of anatomy and function, more specifically the locomotion of these animals. Although the giraffe is such a well-known and iconic animal, relatively little has been studied about their locomotor behaviour.

Dr Basu recently visited South Africa to do fieldwork on the locomotion of giraffes as part of his PhD studies under the mentorship of world-renowned Professor of Evolutionary Biomechanics, Prof John Hutchinson. This project is a joint venture between Dr Basu and Dr Francois Deacon, researcher in the Department of Animal, Wildlife, and Grassland Sciences at the UFS. Dr Deacon is a specialist in giraffe habitat-related research.

Together Prof Hutchinson and Drs Deacon and Basu form a research group, working on studies about giraffe locomotion.

Wild giraffe population decrease by 40% in past decade

“Locomotion is one of the most common animal behaviours and comes with a significant daily energetic cost. Studying locomotion of wild animals aids us in making estimates of this energetic cost. Such estimates are useful in understanding how giraffes fit into ecosystems. Future conservation efforts will be influenced by knowledge of the energy demands in giraffes.

“Understanding aspects of giraffe locomotion also helps us to understand the relationships between anatomy, function and evolution. This is relevant to our basic understanding of the natural world, as well as to conservation and veterinary issues,” said Dr Deacon.

Locomotion study brings strategy for specialist foot care

On face value it seems as if foot disease pathologies are more common in zoo giraffes than in wild giraffes. “However, we need a good sample of data from both populations to prove this assumption,” said Dr Basu.

This phenomenon is not well understood at the moment, but it’s thought that diet, substrate (e.g. concrete, straw, sand and grass) and genetics play a part in foot disease in giraffes. “Understanding how the feet are mechanically loaded during common activities (standing, walking, running) gives our research group ideas of where the highest strains occur, and later how these can be reduced through corrective foot trimming,” said Dr Basu.

Through the studies on giraffe locomotion, the research group plans to devise strategies for corrective foot trimming. At the moment, foot trimming is done with the best evidence available, which is extrapolation from closely related animals such as cattle. “But we know that giraffes’ specialist anatomy will likely demand specialist foot care,” Dr Basu said.

Studying giraffes in smaller versus larger spaces

The research group has begun to study the biomechanics of giraffe walking by looking at the kinematics (the movement) and the kinetics (the forces involved in movement) during walking strides. For this he studied adult giraffes at three zoological parks in the UK.

However, due to the close proximity of fencing and buildings, it is not practical to study fast speeds in a zoo setting.

A setting such as the Willem Pretorius Nature Reserve, near Ventersburg in the Free State, Kwaggafontein Nature Reserve, near Colesberg in the Karoo, and the Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate in Bloemfontein are all ideal for studying crucial aspects such as “faster than walking” speeds and gaits to measure key parameters (such as stride length, step frequency and stride duration). These studies are important to understand how giraffe form and function are adapted to their full range of locomotor behaviours. It also helps to comprehend the limits on athletic capacity in giraffes and how these compare to other animals.

Drones open up unique opportunities for studying giraffes

The increasing availability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)/drones opens up unique opportunities for studying locomotion in animals like giraffes. Cameras mounted onto remotely controlled UAVs are a straightforward way to obtain high-quality video footage of giraffes while they run at different speeds.

“Using two UAVs, we have collected high definition slow motion video footage of galloping giraffes from three locations in the Free State. We have also collected detailed information about the terrain that the giraffes walked and ran across. From this we have created 3D maps of the ground. These maps will be used to examine the preferred terrain types for giraffes, and to see how different terrains affect their locomotion and energy use,” said Dr Deacon.

“The raw data (videos) will be digitised to obtain the stride parameters and limb angles of the animals. Later this will be combined with anatomical data and an estimation of limb forces to estimate the power output of the limbs and how that changes between different terrains,” said Dr Basu.

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