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UFS and ARC establish research chairs to address climate change

12 July 2024 | Story André Damons | Photo André Damons

Research Chairs 2024 — Prof Paul Oberholster, Dean: NAS; Dr Glen Taylor, Senior Director for the Directorate Research Development (DRD); Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Internationalisation; and Prof Johan van Niekerk, Vice-Dean for Agriculture in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (NAS); are excited for the new ARC-DALLRD-UFS research chairs.

In a concerted effort to address the challenges and impact of climate change in Southern Africa, the University of the Free State (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 ARC-DALLRD-UFS research chairs, namely Climate Change and Agriculture, Innovative Agro-processing for Climate-smart Food System, Agriculture Risk Financing and Sustainable Livestock Production, falls under the umbrella of climate change and are part of the established centre of excellence of the ARC and DALRRD on Climate Smart Agriculture.

They will form part of two centres of excellence that the university is also in the process of establishing. The framework for these Agriculture Research Centres of Excellence involves several key components aimed at fostering innovation, collaboration, and impactful research in agriculture. In this case it is Climate Smart Agriculture, enabling them to play a pivotal role in advancing agriculture, enhancing productivity, sustainability, and resilience in the face of global challenges related to climate change.

Prof Johan van Niekerk, Vice-Dean for Agriculture for NAS, and Prof Sonja Venter, from the ARC, are the coordinators for the ARC-UFS-consortium. Joel Mamabolo from the DALRRD is the department’s representative and DALRRD manager in the consortium.

The purpose of the research chairs, he explains, is to conduct high-level research with an aspect of community impact as envisaged in the university’s vision 130. This is the UFS and NAS’s first steps towards creating industry chairs with negotiations between the UFS and the ARC-DALRRD currently taking place for further expansion of the chairs.

Improve research and food security

“The UFS has a long-standing relationship with the ARC and the parties came together to work together to improve research and food security in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The best way to do this, was by creating research chairs. The ARC saw the university’s expertise in agriculture which also contributed to the ARC establishing the chairs. Our expertise is of such a nature that it does not only influence the sector, but also makes a lasting difference,” says Prof Van Niekerk.

According to him, the ARC and the UFS will collectively manage the research chairs by appointing co-chair principal scientists for each of the chairs in order for the chairs to work together and share resources and expertise. The ARC-DALLRD-UFS research chairs will also work closely together within multidisciplinary research teams and complement each other and in doing so, create a value chain within the agriculture sector.

It will integrate various disciplines including agronomy, genetics, soil science, ecology, pathology economics, socioeconomics horticulture, animal sciences, food sciences and engineering to mention a few. This multidisciplinary approach will foster comprehensive research solutions and innovation at the intersection of different fields and will aim to contribute to sustainable food systems for the future.

The first two chairs; Climate Change and Agriculture, headed by Prof Linus Franke, Head of the UFS Department of Soil, Crop, and Climate Sciences, and the Innovative Agro-processing for Climate-smart Food System, which will be under Dr Alba du Toit, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, officially started on 1 July 2024, while the remaining two chairs will begin operating in December. The ARC will soon confirm the co-leaders of the various chairs.

The Agriculture Risk Financing research chair will be shared between the Department of Agricultural Economics, within NAS, and the UFS Business School. The Sustainable Livestock Production chair will fall within Prof Frikkie Neser’s Department of Animal Science. To add more credibility, experience and expertise to the ARC-DALLRD-UFS research chairs, Prof Maryke Labuschagne, who is leading the NRF SARChI Chair in Diseases and Quality of Field Crops, has been appointed as mentor.

Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Internationalisation, says: “These chairs mark an exciting opportunity to deepen our understanding of climate change aligned to our expertise in agriculture. The chairs offer us the opportunity to honour and support the leaders who will contribute in powerful ways to the vibrant intellectual life of the faculty, as well as the university, the ARC and DALRRD.

“The chairs also honour the donor whose financial support makes this form of recognition possible. At the UFS we are committed to engaging in global challenges but with a deliberate local focus, energy and drive. I am especially excited that these chairs demonstrate a commitment to the UFS focus on partnerships with industry, communities, the state and other academic and research institutions both nationally and around the world.”

Grateful for the ARC relationship

Through these chairs more collaborators and partners from other universities in the country and globally will be included in the partnership with the aim to bring together internationally renowned scientific experts that will collectively focus to address global challenges and enhance the development of more scientific capacity for the country.

The university, Prof Van Niekerk continues, is grateful for the cooperation and relationship with the ARC and its President and CEO, Dr Litha Magingxa and the executive management team, as well as the DALRRD DG, Mooketsa Ramasodi and the DDG for Agricultural Production, Biosecurity and Natural Resources Management, Dipepeneneng Serage for creating an environment within which the Universities and ARC can collectively contribute towards developing solutions with the DALRRD for key agricultural challenges of the country.

He expressed his gratitude to the Directorate Research Development (DRD) under the leadership of Dr Glen Taylor, for not only their support, but for bringing the parties together and negotiating with the ARC on their behalf. In this regard he wishes to thank Dr Petronella Chaminuka from the ARC as the acting Executive Manager: Research support and coordination for her support, guidance and leadership during the process.

Prof Van Niekerk also thanked Profs Francis Petersen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Reddy, and Paul Oberholster, Dean of the Faculty of NAS, for creating the environment and rendering immense support for this programme from the UFS.

News Archive

Academic delivers inaugural lecture on South African foreign policy

2007-08-06

In her inaugural lecture Prof. Heidi Hudson from the Department of Political Sciences, focused on the impact that Pan-Africanist sentiments have had on South Africa’s foreign policy. She also put the resulting contradictions and ambiguities into context. At her inaugural lecture were, from the left: Proff. Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS), Heidi Hudson, Engela Pretorius (Vice-Dean: Faculty of The Humanities) and Daan Wessels (Research Associate in the Department of Political Science).
Photo: Stephen Collett

Academic delivers inaugural lecture on South African foreign policy

“We are committed to full participation as an equal partner … opposed to any efforts which might seek to project South Africa as some kind of superpower on our continent. … the people of Africa share a common destiny and must therefore … address their challenges … as a united force...” (Mbeki 1998:198-199).

Prof. Heidi Hudson from the Department of Political Science referred to this statement made by president Mbeki (made at the opening of the OAU Conference of Ministers of Information in 1995) when she delivered her inaugural lecture on the topic: South African foreign policy: The politics of Pan-Africanism and pragmatism.

One of the questions she asked is: “Can the South African state deliver democracy and welfare at home while simultaneously creating a stable, rules-based African community?”

She answers: “South Africa needs to reflect more critically and honestly on the dualism inherent in its ideological assumptions regarding relations with Africa. South Africa will always be expected by some to play a leadership role in Africa. At the moment, South Africa’s desire to be liked is hampering its role as leader of the continent.”

In her lecture she highlighted the ideological underpinnings and manifestations of South Africa’s foreign policy. Throughout she alluded to the risks associated with single-mindedly following an ideologically driven foreign policy. She emphasised that domestic or national interests are the victims in this process.

Prof. Hudson offers three broad options for South Africa to consider:

The Predator – the selfish bully promoting South African economic interest.
Mr Nice Guy – the non-hegemonic partner of the African boys club, multilaterally pursuing a pivotal but not dominant role.
The Hegemon - South Africa driving regional integration according to its values and favouring some African countries over others, and with checks and balances by civil society.

She chooses option three of hegemony. “Politically correct research views hegemony as bad and partnership as good. This is a romanticised notion – the two are not mutually exclusive,” she said.

However, she states that there have to be prerequisites to control the exercise of power. “The promotion of a counter-hegemon, such as Nigeria, is necessary. Nigeria has been more effective in some respects than South Africa in establishing its leadership, particularly in West Africa. Also needed is that government should be checked by civil society to avoid it sinking into authoritarianism. The case of business and labour coming to an agreement over the HIV/Aids issue is a positive example which illustrates that government cannot ignore civil society. But much more needs to be done in this regard. South Africa must also be very careful in how it uses its aid and should focus potential aid and development projects more explicitly in terms of promoting political stability,” she said.

Prof. Hudson said: “It is also questionable whether Mbeki’s Afro-centrism has in fact promoted the interests of ordinary citizens across Africa. Instead, elite interests in some countries have benefited. But ultimately, the single most important cost is the damage done to the moral code and ethical principles on which the South African Constitution and democracy is founded.

“In the end we all lose out. More pragmatism and less ideology in our relations within Africa may just be what are needed,” she said.

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