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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

Socially inclusive teaching provides solution to Grade 4 literacy challenges

2017-01-23

Mots’elisi Malebese, postdoctoral Fellow of the Faculty
of Education at the University of the Free State (UFS) tackles
Grade 4 literacy challenges.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

Imagine a teaching approach that inculcates richness of culture and knowledge to individual learners, thus enhancing equity, equality, social justice, freedom, hope and fairness in terms of learning opportunities for all, regardless of learners’ diversity.

This teaching strategy was introduced by Mots’elisi Malebese, postdoctoral Fellow of the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State (UFS), whose thesis focuses on bringing together different skills, knowledge and expertise in a classroom environment in order to enhance learners’ competence in literacy.

A teaching approach to aid Grade 4 literacy competency
Titled, A Socially Inclusive Teaching Strategy to Respond to Problems of Literacy in a Grade 4 Class, Malebese’s post-doctoral research refers to an approach that improves listening, speaking, reading, writing, technical functioning and critical thinking. Malebese, who obtained her PhD qualification in June this year, says her research confirmed that, currently, Grade 4 is a bottleneck stage, at which learners from a low socio-economic background fall behind in their learning due to the transition from being taught in their home language to English as a medium of instruction.

Malebese, says: “My study, therefore, required practical intervention through participatory action research (PAR) to create conditions that foster space for empowerment.”

PAR indoctrinates a democratic way of living that is equitable, liberating and life-enhancing, by breaking away from traditional teaching methods. It involves forming coalitions with individuals with the least social, cultural and economic power.

Malebese’s thesis was encouraged by previous research that revealed that a lack of readiness for a transitional phase among learners, teachers’ inability to teach literacy efficiently, and poor parental involvement, caused many learners to experience a wide variety of learning barriers.

A co-teaching model was adopted in an effort to create a more socially inclusive classroom. This model involves one teacher providing every learner with the assistance he or she needs to succeed, while another teacher moves around the room and provides assistance to individual learners.

“Learners’ needs are served best by allowing them to demonstrate understanding in a variety of ways, because knowledge is conveyed and accomplished through collaborative work,” Malebese said.

She believes the most important benefit of this model is assuring that learners become teachers of their understanding and experiences through gained knowledge.

Roleplayers get involved using diverse expertise in their field
Teachers, parents and several NGOs played a vital role in Malebese’s study by getting involved in training, sewing and cooking clubs every weekend and during school holidays. English was the medium of teaching and learning in every activity. A lodge, close to the school, offered learners training in mountain biking and hiking. These activities helped learners become tour guides. Storyteller Gcina Mhlophe presented learners with a gift of her latest recorded storytelling CD and books. Every day after school, learners would read, and have drama lessons once a week.

AfriGrow, an organisation that works with communities, the government and the corporate sector to develop sustainable community-driven livelihoods through agricultural and nutrition programmes, provided learners with seedlings, manure and other garden inputs and training on how to start a sustainable food garden. The children were also encouraged to participate in sporting activities like soccer and netball.

“I was aware that I needed a large toolbox of instructional strategies, and had to involve other stakeholders with diverse expertise in their field,” Malebese said.

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