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Research chair to focus on mainstreaming climate-smart financing solutions

03 March 2025 | Story Andre Damons and Adele Louw | Photo Tania Allen

A newly established multi-stakeholder research chair at the University of the Free State (UFS) Business School will focus on holistic and interdisciplinary research that will create new knowledge, contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation in the food and agricultural sector.

The Agriculture Risk Financing research chair, led by Prof Cobus Oberholster from the Business School, will also support sector specific policy development and implementation, and steer the societal discourse on climate financing and sustainable agriculture. The chair forms part of the UFS, Agricultural Research Council (ARC), and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) research chairs. Prof Oberholster joined the university on 1 February 2025 in this prestigious position which is a collaboration between the Business School and the UFS Department of Agricultural Economics.

Prof Oberholster, who spent a big portion of his corporate career in the banking environment, brings extensive expertise in climate finance, resource mobilisation, and sustainable economic practices. His appointment marks a significant milestone in advancing research at the intersection of finance, sustainability, and agriculture, ensuring that innovative financial solutions contribute to environmental resilience and responsible resource management. Prof Oberholster also gained extensive management experience over the past 15 years regarding the agribusiness environment (non-Bank) in South Africa with a specific focus on value-chain financing.

Focus of research chair

Says Prof Oberholster: “The research chair will strategically focus on the mainstreaming of climate-smart financing solutions within the food and agricultural sector. To achieve this, the research will focus on three strategic and interrelated pillars (Regulatory and policy, Entrepreneurial market exchanges and Digital financial innovations), which aim to provide a governance framework within which innovative financing and market mechanisms can be developed and commercialised.

“The chair will reside at the UFS Business School, but form part of a group of research chairs being hosted within the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science. These chairs cover the full food and agricultural value chain, which allow for leveraging the output of the chair within very specific components of the value agrifood value chain.”

The ARC-DALLRD-UFS research chairs were established last year in an effort to address the challenges and impact of climate change in Southern Africa and fall under the umbrella of climate change.

Prof Oberholster, who completed two doctoral degrees focusing on agriculture, agricultural development, and agricultural financing, says he is excited to be part of this joint initiative, and the opportunity to share his business and financing experience. “Climate change, and the corresponding need to find innovative financing solutions, is currently one of the biggest global challenges. It requires an accelerated and responsible approach to research and innovation which, together with the university’s trusted reputation, must be used to build social licence for disruptive technological solutions.”

Contributing to food security

According to Prof Oberholster, both the UFS Business School and the faculty, are ideally suited to find complementary commercial solutions for accessing and mobilising climate finance in South Africa and the wider African continent. The chair, through the UFS Business School, will also focus on capacity building which will be done through selected training and educational interventions, with the aim of addressing existing constraints in mobilising and accessing climate finance.

“The chair will focus on the integration of social, ethical and environmental parameters into climate-financing decisions. By focusing on these key sustainability aspects, access to climate finance will not only contribute to specific development objectives but also significantly contribute to food security,” Prof Oberholster says.

“Climate change, and the corresponding need to find innovative financing solutions, is currently one of the biggest global challenges. As such I’m looking forward to guide the creation of new knowledge in this specialised field, and especially to find complementary commercial solutions for accessing and mobilising climate finance in South Africa and the bigger African continent. What is standing out for me is the level of expertise available within the UFS, and the willingness of academics to work together on grand challenges such as climate finance. This is a winning recipe.”

News Archive

#Women'sMonth: Save the children

2017-08-10

Dr Trudi O’Neill, Senior lecturer in the Department of
Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology.
Photo: Anja Aucamp

Dr Trudi O’Neill, Senior lecturer in the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, is conducting research on rotavirus vaccines.

Dr O’Neill was inspired to conduct research on this issue through her fascination with the virus. “The biology of rotaviruses, especially the genome structure and the virus’ interaction with the host, is fascinating.”

“In fact, it is estimated that, globally, ALL children will be infected with rotavirus before the age of five, irrespective of their socio-economic standing. However, infants and young children in poor countries are more vulnerable due to inadequate healthcare. The WHO estimates that approximately 215 000 deaths occur each year. This roughly equates to eight Airbus A380 planes, the largest commercial carrier with a capacity of approximately 500 seats, filled with only children under the age of five, crashing each week of every year.”

Alternative to expensive medicines
“Currently, there are two vaccines that have been licensed for global use. However, these vaccines are expensive and poor countries, where the need is the greatest, are struggling to introduce them sustainably. It is therefore appealing to study rotaviruses, as it is scientifically challenging, but could at the same time have an impact on child health,” Dr O’Neill said.

The main focus of Dr O’Neill’s research is to develop a more affordable vaccine that can promote child vaccination in countries/areas that cannot afford the current vaccines.

All about a different approach
When asked about the most profound finding of her research, Dr O’Neill responded: “It is not so much a finding, but rather the approach. My rotavirus research group is making use of yeast as vehicle to produce a sub-unit vaccine. These microbes are attractive, as they are relatively easy to manipulate and cheap to cultivate. Downstream production costs can therefore be reduced. The system we use was developed by my colleagues, Profs Koos Albertyn and Martie Smit, and allows for the potential use of any yeast. This enables us to screen a vast number of yeasts in order to identify the best yeast producer.”

Vaccination recently acquired a bad name in the media for its adverse side effects. As researcher, Dr O’Neill has this to say: “Vaccines save lives. By vaccinating your child, you don’t just protect your own child from a potentially deadly infection, but also other children in your community that might be too young to be vaccinated or have pre-existing health problems that prevents vaccination.”

A future without rotavirus vaccination?
Dr O’Neill believes a future without rotavirus vaccination will be a major step backwards, as the impact of rotavirus vaccines has been profound. “Studies in Mexico and Malawi actually show a reduction in deaths. A colleague in Mozambique has commented on the empty hospital beds that amazed both clinicians and scientists only one year after the introduction of the vaccine in that country. Although many parents, mostly in developed countries, don’t have to fear dehydrating diarrhoea and potential hospitalisation of their babies due to rotavirus infection anymore, such an infection could still be a death sentence in countries that have not been able to introduce the vaccine in their national vaccination programmes,” she said.

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