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24 April 2025 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Barend Nagel
Mainstream Final Project
Five postgraduate students from Ethiopia and Togo with Prof Corli Witthuhn, coordinator of the MAINSTREAM project, during their academic exchange visit to the University of the Free State. From the left: Prudence Bilabina, Ame Houngo, Prof Corli Witthuhn, Gemedo Shengu, Fanny Sibabi, and Debela Bedada.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has welcomed a cohort of international students as part of the Mobility 4 Agricultural International Networks Supporting Thematic Resilience and Enhancing Adaptation and Mitigation (MAINSTREAM) project, a significant European Union-funded initiative aimed at boosting agricultural education and research across the African continent.

A group of postgraduate students from Togo and Ethiopia have recently joined the University of the Free State as part of the MAINSTREAM project. “Two doctoral students from Togo – Ame Houngo and Fanny Sibabi – are based in the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development and will be supervised by Dr Alba du Toit and Prof Maryke Labuschagne,” says Prof Corli Witthuhn from the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development at the UFS, who serves as the coordinator of the MAINSTREAM project. Master’s student Prudence Bilabina, also from Togo, is hosted by the Department of Agricultural Economics under the supervision of Prof Henry Jordaan.

From Ethiopia, doctoral student Debela Bedada and master’s student Gemedo Shengu are both pursuing their research in the Department of Agricultural Economics, supervised by Prof Nicky Matthews and Dr Janus Henning respectively.

A Ugandan student will soon join them on 22 April for a three-month traineeship. “He is an undergraduate Agriculture student who will register for a service-learning module at the UFS and spend the three months working on a farm,” explains Prof Witthuhn. The student hails from the Mountains of the Moon University in Uganda.

By June 2025, the university anticipates the arrival of four more students from Uganda – three at master’s level and one traineeship participant – bringing the total number of MAINSTREAM students hosted by UFS this year to ten.

 

Building a climate-resilient future through agricultural education

The MAINSTREAM project aims to foster education and skills improvement in agricultural knowledge systems, with a strong focus on climate change resilience. According to Prof Witthuhn, the project “strives to influence the common agenda for addressing education and skills improvement … targeting transformations with the tertiary agricultural education community, policy, and industry actors”.

An important aspect of the initiative is its emphasis on inclusion, particularly regarding African women who remain underrepresented in higher education agricultural programmes. “Mobility schemes will also be used to break cross-African gendered perceptions of agriculture … and to further provide for a gender-sensitive learning environment and institutional culture,” Prof Witthuhn notes.

The UFS’ participation forms part of a larger network of partner institutions across Africa and Europe, including Arsi University (Ethiopia), the University of Kara (Togo), the Mountains of the Moon University (Uganda), Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST, Kenya), the University of Sine Saloum El Hadji Ibrahima Niasse (USSEIN, Senegal), and the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Science (Germany).

 

Strengthening research, networks, and collaboration at the UFS

This four-year project, running from 2024 to 2027, will host two cohorts of students. “We are a partner in the project that will run over four years … one of the UFS master’s students, Rinus Behrens from the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, is currently spending four months at JOOUST in Kenya as part of the programme,” adds Prof Witthuhn.

The presence of these students at the UFS marks a pivotal moment for both the institution and its international counterparts. “For the institution, it creates the opportunity for new networks, new research opportunities, internationalisation of our research endeavour, and increased research outputs,” she says.

During their stay, master’s and doctoral students will engage in academic research aligned with their fields of study, while traineeship students will gain hands-on agricultural experience on farms in the Bloemfontein area.

Bedada says the programme is already making a meaningful impact on his academic journey. “I am analysing the impact of agricultural mechanisation on food security and production. It is a big opportunity, because it gives me a chance to expand my knowledge and skills, and to develop my research work to international level.”

Similarly, Houngo says the experience so far has been enriching. “I have already learned a lot, and I hope to replicate the experience in my hometown,” he shares.

Behind the scenes, UFS staff and departments are instrumental in ensuring the programme’s success. “They provide host departments, academic leadership, and supervision to the six students,” says Prof Witthuhn, emphasising the collaborative effort required to support this international initiative.

News Archive

Odeion: Staff Events in November
2008-10-15

Sunday, 9 November 2008
Christmas Concert Picnic
Odeion  Amphi Theatre
18:00

You are cordially invited to the Christmas Concert Picnic presented by students of the Department of Music.  Bring your picnic basket and be part of Christmas sing alongs and music.

Admission is free!  Invite your friends and family with and enjoy carols by candlelight under the stars!

For more information, contact Ninette Pretorius (051 – 401 2504).


Department of Music -  Public Examination Recitals.

The Department of Music presents Public Examination Recitals in the form of concerts in the Odeion.  You are cordially invited to these free events.

  • Admission to all concerts are free :  Book your free ticket at Ninette Pretorius (051 – 401 2504).

Monday, 10 November 2008
19:30 - Chester Meyer (B.Mus.Hons. – Choral Directing)
with
Primary School Jim Fouché Choir
Aurum Men’s Choir
UFS Choir
Accompanists: Joanita Erasmus, Jo-retha Smit & Hans Potgieter

Programme:
Works by Bach, Eben, Temmingh, Lightfoot, Britz and Orff, amongs others, will be performed, including two arrangements by Corné van Pletzen and Chester Meyer.

Tuesday, 11 November 2008
18:00 - Braam van Tonder (B.Mus. – Trumpet)
with
Petro Engelbrecht (piano)

Programme:
Torelli – Sinfonia con tromba
Hummel – Trumpet concerto in E-flat major
Addison – Trumpet concerto
Hindemith – Sonata in B-flat major for trumpet and piano
Arban – Variations sur Norma von Bellini

Tuesday, 11 November 2008
19:30
- Andrea Hobson (B.Mus.Hons. – Euphonium)
with
Petro Engelbrecht (piano)

Programme:
Barat - Fantaisie in E flat
Horovitz - Euphonium concerto (Moderato & Adagio)
De Faye - Deux Danses (Danse Sacreé & Danse Profane)
Hidas - Euphoniada
Jacob - Fantasia
Goedicke - Concert Etude

 

 

 

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