Article by Engela Duvenhage. Photo taken by Henk Oets

There’s more to Africa’s food system paradox than just agricultural issues, says UN advisor on Africa

Africa can finance its own development and it is already doing it. Unfortunately, too many policymakers in Africa have a mindset of managing poverty, rather than of managing development. Its food system paradox isn’t grounded in a lack of agricultural resources, but in the geopolitical, financing and energy issues plaguing the continent. This was the stern message from Ms Cristina Duarte, United Nations Special Advisor on Africa, and Under-Secretary-General of the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), who was guest speaker at the recent African Food Dialogue in Stellenbosch.

The event was hosted by the Southern African Food Lab and the Faculty of AgriSciences at Stellenbosch University (SU).

Before joining the UN, Ms Duarte served as Minister of Finance and Planning of the African island nation of Cape Verde, as vice president of Citibank, and as a former director of a World Bank reform program.

During her three-day visit to SU, Ms Duarte through various sessions interacted with academics and students from SU, as well as from the University of the Western Cape and the University of the Free State.

In welcoming Ms Duarte as speaker to the African Food Dialogue series, SU vice-chancellor Prof Wim de Villiers described her talk as a fitting end to Africa Month celebrations at the University. He underlined the importance of the series as a vehicle to bring together diverse, influential stakeholders in the Southern Africa food systems to respond to systemic issues in creative ways and to inspire change in the thinking and tackling of complex social challenges.

Ms Duarte was very vocal in describing Africa’s food systems paradox as a chronic one that existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic impacted it even further. She said it existed despite the resource-rich continent being home to up to 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land.

Africa has not delivered the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and she doesn’t foresee Africa by 2030 reaching the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were set out as shared blueprints to ensure peace and prosperity for people and the planet.

“In fact, we have gone back since these were adopted 7 years ago. The gap is huge, not to say cosmic,” she noted. “Even if our economies grow by 7%, which it isn’t, there will still be more than 400 million people living in poverty by 2030.”

Ms Duarte added weight to her statements by highlighting the following:

• In 2021, 270 million people in Africa were undernourished – a 42% increase from 2000.
• Around 60% of Africa’s people suffer from moderate or severe food insecurity – double that of the world average of 30%.
• Severe food insecurity has risen from 2014 from 16% to 25% today.
• Smallholder farmers ensured the production of 80% to 90% of all foodstuffs.
• 70% of all people in Africa in some way derive their income from agriculture.
• Africa spends approximately 100 billion dollars on food imports, yet only exports around 50 billion dollars’ worth of foodstuffs.
• The world’s population is expected to increase by a further 2,4 billion people by 2050.
• To feed this growing population overall food production must grow by over 70% by 2050.

The lack of available arable land is a strained resource worldwide. Therefore, any increase in food output is becoming increasingly reliant on optimized farming practices and ways to maximize the value that can be extracted from existing farmland.

“The system already understood something very simple: that Africa must be part of the solution to be able to feed the additional 2,4 billion people. There is no way that this can be done without bringing Africa into the equation, because we have the resources, such as land, water, sun, markets, young working force.

“Unfortunately, we are selling thousands and thousands of hectares of land in Africa. We are losing our young workforce. The growth of Africa’s middle class does not strengthen Africa’s own production. The greater import volumes needed to feed the growing middle class are only benefiting the production and economic growth of other regions.”

To ensure a better future, African nations must build highly productive, labour-intensive economies that can generate 18 million jobs annually.

“The agricultural sector is best placed to deliver on this,” Ms Duarte said.

She added that given geopolitical influences, the agricultural sector will still grow whether Africa decides to play an active role or not.

“The question is not that it will happen, but how it will happen. In fact, it is already happening – again. And we can decide if it will happen in ‘their’ way, or in ‘our’ way,” Ms Duarte challenged. “We need better leadership and more ownership, to better control the huge deficit between our own economies and financial flows.”

She believed it would be “impossible” to unlock Africa’s food systems without adequate energy provision, infrastructure and higher energy usage.

“The continent currently only uses 3% of the world’s electricity supply. To put it into context: in 2019 the European Union consumed over three times as much energy as Africa, and Germany and France’s combined consumption was more than that of the whole of Africa’s.”

Despite possibly being the only segment of the economy that can deliver on SDG promises, the agrofoods sector is unfortunately not seen as such by African partners and African policy makers. Too many economic policies with conflicting objectives are at play.

Ms Duarte said that most UN reports over the past 10 years have typified Africa as suffering from low yields, small markets, low levels of investment, and lack of access to markets, financing or quality goods.

She said the narrow approach of traditional economic policies, which was captured by neo-liberal thinking since the 1960s, dominated essentially by a monetary approach does not provide all the tools to understand Africa’s many paradoxes.

“We need to understand how the geopolitical economy focusing on the relationship between the state, society, individuals, and markets impacts the food system paradoxes at large. A better understanding of the financing paradox will improve understanding of the food system paradox.”

She underlined how Africa is already financing its own development, but how this is not the perception of its leaders across the continent.

“We are not financed by third entities. We can do it ourselves,” she noted.

Only 65% of national budgets are financed with taxes. According to 2021 data from the African Union Commission and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Africa’s development dynamics, three-quarters of the continent’s funding is driven by domestic resources. Private savings contributes 38%, and public revenue (excluding grants) a further 43%.

External flows play an important role but a complementary one:

• 4% through international development enterprises (IDE)
• 3% through portfolio investment
• 7% from remittance
• and 5% through official development assistance (ODA)

A major drawback within this potentially positive scenario is that Africa annually loses $70 billion to inefficient public spending and $46 billion to revenue forgone due to inefficient tax exemption systems. Between 1970 and 2018 illicit financial flows (IFFs) cost Africa $2 trillion. IFFs and debt levels are ever increasing.

She therefore described Africa as “a net exporter of capital to the world” of around $300 billion annually.

Despite Africa potentially having the necessary financial resources, its leaders are begging for debt relief and debt suspension and “have a mindset of managing poverty rather than development”.

“You don’t use the same policy framework for both,” she noted.

According to Ms Duarte, strong systems and institutions are “the missing pieces of the equation”. Internally driven financing within the next ten years is needed to strongly mobilize domestic resources, or else it will be too late to deliver on sustainable financing or sustainable development goals.

She explained how stronger domestic resource mobilization could strengthen countries’ geo-political positions and allow them to enjoy higher decision-making levels on how to finance their public deficit. It will in turn allow countries to redesign and shape their own risk profiles, to tap into international markets and capital markets, and be in an overall much stronger position. The challenge is to build robust domestic resource mobilization systems to increase Africa’s policy space, which, by its turn, is a prerequisite to improve Africa’s economic and financial spaces.

“By building domestic resource mobilization systems you can put your own country in a trajectory of predictable cash flows, which is an aspect that credit rating agencies look for,” Ms Duarte noted.

However, insufficient infrastructure, a weak public finance management value chain and a deficit in state intervention hamper Africa’s food systems.

“It is impossible to unlock food systems in Africa without electricity or water,” she noted in her closing remarks. “We need a conducive environment to unlock it.”

Toasting to the future success of ‘Eco2Wine’: Dr Karien O’Kennedy, Winetech; Professor Florian Bauer, South African Grape and Wine Research Institute (SAGWRI), Stellenbosch University; and Professor Marina Joubert, Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch University.

Stellenbosch University is part of a consortium of eight academic institutions from around the world that are involved in the science of winemaking and have joined forces to compete successfully for support from the EU. Funding from the EU Horizon Europe Programme will be invested in cutting-edge research, advanced doctoral training and public communication around novel approaches to vine-growing and winemaking. These institutions have also partnered with industry bodies and private companies in the wine industry. The ‘Eco2Wine’ project will kick off at the end of 2023, with about €2.4 million in joint funding over four years. About R10.4 million will be allocated to Stellenbosch University to train two PhD graduates – one each in wine science and science communication – as well as for research and networking activities.

Two Stellenbosch researchers are involved: Professor Florian Bauer, South African Research Chair in Integrated Wine Science, and Professor Marina Joubert, science engagement researcher at the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST).

Coordinated by the University of Milan, the Eco2Wine consortium partners are in wine-growing countries, including Italy, Germany, France, Georgia, Spain, Slovenia and South Africa. Industry partners in South Africa include Winetech, the Research, Development and Innovation partner of the local wine industry, and Reyneke Wines, a local wine farm and cellar pioneering environmentally sustainable approaches.

The science objective of the Eco2Wine project is to harness the microbial biodiversity that is naturally associated with healthy vines and vineyards as a tool for innovation in winemaking. The aim is to produce sustainable, eco-friendly wines while improving vineyard management and offering consumers a broader choice of wines.

“By understanding the interactions between the multitude of fungi, yeasts and bacteria that are involved in winemaking, we believe we can make the process more sustainable and produce excellent wines more sustainably and with novel characteristics,” explains Professor Bauer. “Our focus will be on delivering innovative wines of high quality that are produced in environmentally friendly ways and that can compete on international markets.” To do this, we need to map and understand the complex functions and interactions of microbes throughout the winemaking process from vineyards to cellars, he adds.

In addition to science skills, the PhD candidates trained via this project will acquire advanced skills in science communication and community engagement. “This is an interesting new approach to combining a science focus with science communication, thereby allowing natural and social scientists to join forces,” notes Lizel Senekal of the Division for Research Development at Stellenbosch University. “We believe this will become the norm in future projects of this nature.”

The study of the dynamics within communities of microbes is known as ‘microbiomics’, Professor Joubert explains. “This is a cutting-edge and complex field of science, and it can be challenging to make new advances and applications relevant and accessible to industry members and consumers,” she explains. “However, these novel wines can only succeed with support from all stakeholders along the winemaking chain. Therefore, ongoing and pro-active engagement and dialogue with all relevant role players will be essential, including co-creating new solutions and approaches with winemakers.”

“As far as consumer preferences go, we know that nowadays people are looking for high-quality wines that also satisfy an emotional need, for example, a positive mood change,” Professor Bauer adds. “This means that they choose wines that match their values and preferences, and consumers are increasingly seeking natural and eco-friendly options.”

In line with the novel scientific approach, the Eco2Wine project will focus on novel and creative public communication and engagement approaches, including digital storytelling, virtual displays and science-art linkages, and efforts to involve relevant groups in co-creating new ideas and knowledge. The team will also ensure ongoing sharing of progress and outcomes via mainstream and social media.

Enquiries:
Professor Florian Bauer: fb2@sun.ac.za
Professor Marina Joubert: marinajoubert@sun.ac.za

Dr Barbara van Asch (Genetics Department) was invited by the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project (NGOWP) to participate in an expedition to the Cuanavale source lake, Angola, from 1 to 14 November 2022. The NGOWP has been gathering field data on water and land from the sources in the highlands of Angola to the delta in Botswana to protect the greater Okavango River Basin. The project started in 2015 and currently involves a vast interdisciplinary network of African and international scientists. Dr Barbara van Asch and other experts in the fields of entomology and botany were led by Robert Taylor, research coordinator, and assisted by local staff in a survey of insects and plants in riverine, miombo and forest habitats.

According to Dr Barbara van Asch, “The Okavango River Basin is one of the most biodiverse regions on the continent, and I dare say one of its last wild places. I am ecstatic to have been part of one of the expeditions of the NGOWP. Travelling to this remote area of the source waters is extremely difficult because of landmines and limited infrastructure, meaning that few scientists have had such an opportunity. I collected extensive termite material that will contribute to documenting insect diversity in the greater Okavango River Basin, and it was an honour and a privilege to participate in the largest exploration and conservation project of the 21st century in Africa. The camaraderie was wonderful, and I miss the rice and beans cooked on the fire!”

Dr van Asch collecting specimens of Macrotermes, the largest mound-building, fungus-growing termites.

 

The team of experts included Craig Peter (Rhodes University), Terence Bellingan (Albany Museum), Peter Hawkes (Afribugs; University of Venda) and Alan Gardiner (South African Wildlife College).

On 3 April 2023, eighty plant pathology enthusiasts from all over the Western Cape came together at Neethlingshof Winery, Stellenbosch, to share ideas and learn more about their fellow researchers’ work.

The Western Cape branch meeting of the Southern African Society for Plant Pathologists (SASPP) was kicked off by Prof Gerhard Pietersen, who gave an interesting keynote presentation titled “Management of a serious virus disease through sustained, industry-supported research: The South African grapevine leafroll disease control story”.

Thirteen doctoral students with plant pathology-related projects were then given the opportunity to present their research. The presentations covered a variety of topics, including virus control and pathogenomics; pathogen detection and epidemiology; applied plant pathology; and postharvest pathology and technology. There was also an opportunity to view posters related to the presentations in the wine cellar of the winery.

Dr Isabelle Robene, a visiting researcher from the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) in Réunion, treated attendees to her presentation on “INDICANTS project: INnovative DIagnostiCs for bANana paThogens Surveillance”. She was followed by Dr Ali EE Ali from the University of the Western Cape who presented his work titled “Antifungal role of hydrogen sulfide against Aspergillus flavus in maize”.

At the end of the day, the best PhD presentation and poster were awarded. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Wynand van Jaarsveld, the presentation winner and Stefni van der Walt, the poster winner, on a job well done! We would like to thank all the sponsors of the day – Inqaba, Hill & Dale, La Grenade, Patho Solutions, Real IPM, Tessara, and especially Bayer, who sponsored the meeting venue for the day.

On 23 February 2023, the Agricultural Economics Postgraduate Association (AEPA) seated in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University hosted a speed networking event to connect the department’s postgraduate and final-year students with future employers. In an event as fast-paced as the agricultural industry itself, students had the opportunity to engage with agricultural economists representing various agricultural companies. The event, based on the principles of speed dating, was divided into smaller groups and the groups had only seven minutes with each industry member to ask them anything they wanted. These seven-minute rotations made for an exciting evening where students and industry shared their mutual passion for the industry. During the evening, students had the chance to experience the dynamic nature of the life of an agricultural economist. Although the industry guests were all agricultural economists, none had the same day-to-day activities, illustrating, once again, the multitude of possibilities available to graduates in agricultural economics.

In a post-event survey, the industry participants commended AEPA for the initiative to meet future leaders and indicated their interest in future events. One of the students said, “It was a networking event unlike any other – where agricultural economists could connect with like-minded professionals in a flash.”

AEPA, founded in August 2022, is passionate about developing agricultural economics students. Their vision is to create a community for postgraduates (and, where possible, for undergraduates) in the department to connect with in academic, professional and social settings. By hosting events such as the speed networking event, AEPA facilitates engagement among fellow students, lecturers and the industry. Other events that AEPA is planning for the year include a selection of skills development workshops and brown bag seminars aimed at preparing students for the workplace.

AEPA and the Department of Agricultural Economics are grateful for the generous donations by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and Kaap Agri, which made the event possible.

With the potential to enhance soil health, increase biodiversity and foster resilient crop production systems, regenerative agriculture has captured the attention of farmers, policymakers, and consumers worldwide.

Small-grain cropping systems in Mediterranean-climate regions are often compromised by a legacy of tillage practices, inherently impoverished soils, and a mismatch of crop water requirements during critical growth stages and rainfall distribution. In some Mediterranean rainfall regions like South Africa and Australia, conservation agriculture (minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and rotational cropping) has contributed significantly to preserving and restoring these soils and the ecosystem processes. However, more erratic and extreme weather events associated with climate change and heavy dependence on potentially harmful and increasingly costly agrochemicals still threaten these systems’ sustainability. Regenerative agriculture practices were evaluated for their potential to address the challenges.

Researchers from Stellenbosch University, Department of Agronomy, and the Western Cape Department of Agriculture in South Africa, have described a set of agroecological practices comprising a Regenerative Agriculture concept adapted for existing small-grain conservation agriculture systems under dryland Mediterranean conditions. Recent literature discusses expectations for these individual measures that produce specific ecosystem services from a soil quality, crop productivity, and economic perspective.

Although lacking a clear-cut scientific definition, key characteristics distinguishing ‘regenerative’ systems from conservation agriculture are an integrated approach to managing pests and diseases, minimising agrochemicals, and an emphasis on fostering environmental and economic resilience.

Various innovative practices and technologies aligned with the ‘regenerative’ concept may be employed to achieve this. Organic soil amendments, like biochar and compost, derived from agricultural wastes, show promise for supplying large quantities of organic matter that may improve soil structure and associated water-retentive and erosion-preventive properties of the soil. These amendments may also contribute to soil fertility as they build up a nutrient ‘bank’ in the soil with slow release of nutrients and minimising leaching losses. The efficacy of microbial and non-microbial, so-called bio-effectors or biostimulants, is under much scrutiny for their role in field conditions. Recent research indicates that the non-microbial bio-effectors and specific combination options show the most promise, particularly in the Mediterranean context, where environmental stresses (heat, moisture, soil salinity, and nutrients) are commonplace. Bio-effectors still need more site-specific research in the given context.

Although the grazed pasture phases utilised in many conservation agriculture systems have provided soil quality, weed suppression and economic benefits, innovations from other farming systems demonstrate further potential realisable benefits. As an alternative to the continuously grazed single-species pasture phases, which are standard practice, the option of growing multi-species cover crops subject to high-intensity rotational grazing may provide superior benefits, including, although not limited to, improved fodder flow, weed control and soil health, as well as reduced erosion and leaching.

More context-specific research is needed for the value of the ‘regenerative’ approach to be accurately assessed for these systems evaluated accurately, holistically considering all the associated benefits and trade-offs of the specific technologies. Nevertheless, the explored technologies constituting a ‘regenerative’ concept show promise in Mediterranean-climate regions.

After more than two decades researching South African litchis, Regina Cronje of Nelspruit can also celebrate receiving her doctorate in Horticulture about this subtropical fruit from Stellenbosch University on 28 March 2023. Her study is providing invaluable advice to local litchi farmers who have to adapt to environmental changes.

Dr Cronje is the first student in South Africa in the past 13 years to receive a PhD on this fruit, and the first ever who researched aspects around the production of the fruit, rather than the fruit itself.

She is the first Matie student to receive a PhD degree for research about this juicy fruit with the characteristic red-pink peel.

Dr Cronje has been working on litchis since her MSc years in the early 2000s at the University of Hohenheim in Germany. She graduated in 2002 after studying the effect of plant growth regulators and girdling on the retention and fruit size of South African litchis.

Since starting to work at the Horticultural division of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) – Tropical and Subtropical Crops in Nelspruit in 2004, she has done research on fruit like litchis, mangoes and citrus. Her research has already been included in more than 50 journal articles and 15 book chapters and she regularly writes popular articles for the local agricultural industry. Locally, Dr Cronje is very involved in the South African litchi industry and regularly addresses study groups and symposia. She has presented on her work in countries like China, Australia, India, Italy and Vietnam.

In 2009 she also received the Lindsey Milne Litchi Industry Award from the South African Litchi Growers’ Association (SALGA).

She has received ongoing funding for her research from SALGA.

“Without the funding by the industry and the farmers on whose farms I am allowed to work, this research would not have been possible,” she says gratefully. “Although the South African litchi industry is very small, with a small research budget, they nevertheless decided to fund a large part of the molecular work for my PhD. I am very grateful to SALGA for their support over many years.”

Over the years she has also developed a good relationship with researchers of the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou in China which has led to many mutual visits. Prof XM Huang of this university was therefore one of her co-supervisors. Her chief supervisor was Prof Lynn Hoffmann, previously of Stellenbosch University’s Department of Horticultural Sciences, with Prof Karen Theron, also of SU, as second co-supervisor.

Litchis in South Africa
Litchis have been cultivated in South Africa since 1875, after the first plants were brought from Mauritius. The subtropical fruit trees have their origin in China.

Three-quarters of all South African plantings are of the ‘Mauritius’ cultivar. Total annual production only amounts to about 6000 tons, but the crops are highly profitable and bring in as much as R185 million annually.

Currently only about 1500 hectares are cultivated in South Africa, especially in the frost-free parts of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, and to a lesser degree in KwaZulu-Natal. These regions are usually characterised by warm, wet summers and dry, cold winters.

“For good flower bud development, ‘Mauritius’ trees must preferably experience average temperatures below 20 degrees. As soon as panicles emerge, a gradual increase in temperature is required to ensure good flower panicle formation,” Dr Cronjé explains.

In the month before flower emergence the trees should ideally already carry mature terminal shoots. Any vegetative shoots which emerge before the floral induction phase will not be able to produce flowers in time.

This all has an effect on flower formation, something which is an issue for litchi farmers – and not only those in South Africa. The poorer the flowering of trees in spring, the poorer the fruit formation and the smaller the eventual harvest.

Over the past two decades a shift in seasonal climatic conditions has been experienced in South Africa’s litchi producing areas, with dry summers and rain at the end of the summer and in early autumn. Winters are increasingly milder, and the coldest periods only occur in later winter months.

As a consequence, the essential “cold” spell that litchi farmers seek increasingly occurs later in the year, and no longer coincides with the right growth period in the tree. Shoot growth is increased before flowering, and as a result flower formation is becoming weaker.

Better use of plant growth regulators
The industry has for a long time applied the plant growth regulator ethephon to eliminate shoot growth in autumn which inhibits flower development. It is usually applied as spot spray around April. Owing to the changing climate, ethephon applications no longer seem so effective.

“This all further exacerbates the existing problem of erratic flowering,” says Dr Cronje.

Through her doctoral studies she found, however, that ethephon is more effective when the whole tree is sprayed when the terminal shoots are mature and new shoots have not yet emerged. This works better than when spot sprays are applied to young immature shoots, and prevents vegetative shoot growth before floral induction.

Such applications delay the development of panicles sufficiently until cooler weather arrives. The accumulation of carbohydrates is promoted, and the quality of inflorescences is improved. Consequently, flowering percentage is better, as well as the eventual yield – without delays in fruit ripening.

The date of application and the concentration at which it is applied play an important role in the efficacy of ethephon.

High ethephon concentrations are more effective under warm conditions, such as early autumn, in areas which are generally hotter. Producers can get away with lower concentration late in autumn and in early winter when temperatures have already started to drop.

“My studies have shown that small adjustments in application time and phenological growth stage can make a big difference in how effective ethephon can be used,” she summarises her findings.

“By preventing shoot growth and influencing the time of bud break, the use of ethephon on mature terminal shoots is better than conventional spot spraying.

“It can be a powerful tool to manage the time of floral development under less favourable conditions.”

As part of her studies, Dr Cronje completed detailed studies on physiological and molecular changes in the shoots, buds and emerging panicles after ethephon application to improve floral induction in the “Mauritius” cultivar. Her gene-expression studies showed that ethephon causes dormancy in the buds. The result are that the buds develop later, when the temperature is sufficiently low for good floral induction.

Recommendations emanating from her studies are already implemented in the local litchi industry.

She hopes that her findings can assist the local industry to be more sustainable and to expand further.

She hopes that more opportunities will emerge to do further research on litchi flower formation and believes that further molecular studies on gene expression in litchis will contribute to the expansion of knowledge on the complex floral induction of litchis.

Currently Dr Cronje is studying ways to improve the colour of the fruit’s peel.

Written by Engela Duvenage on behalf of the Faculty of AgriSciences

Photo: taken by Bjorn Groenewald (SCPS Photos)

Stellenbosch University through its Water Institute and Faculty of Agrisciences, in partnership with Maastricht School of Management (MSM), held a project seminar on Friday, 17 March 2023. The objective was to showcase major outcomes and achievements of Strengthening skills of TVET staff and students for optimizing water usage and climate smart agriculture in South Africa. Which forms part of the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP), funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The OKP is a €195-m Dutch global development programme that is promoted in over 53 developing countries and managed by Nuffic, a Dutch non-profit organisation for internationalization in education. Over the last three years, part of it during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project reached several key milestones with the coordination of the aforementioned implementing partners.

Delegations from several colleges attended the event, including Vhembe TVET College (Limpopo Province), Motheo TVET College (Free State), Nkangala TVET College (Mpumalanga), as well as Boland College and Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute (Western Cape). Other attendees included representatives from MSM, Nuffic Neso South Africa, AgriColleges International (ACI), the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO), the Energy & Water Sector Education Training Authority (EWSETA), the Sustainability Institute, Capricorn TVET College, and West Coast College.

Some of the project milestones that were showcased during the seminar included the revision and implementation of student learning material related to water topic elements, the establishment of three high-technology horticulture greenhouses at Vhembe, Motheo, and Boland colleges respectively, and the establishment of a fully functional Cloud-based Moodle e-learning platform.

Another major milestone is the establishment of two sector triple helix partnership agreements, one initiated between Motheo College, the Central University of Technology, and Free State Agriculture. The second partnership agreement involves Boland College and Rennie Farms, a major supplier of horticulture products to Woolworths, Shoprite, and Checkers. Recently, two graduates from Boland College who established an aquaponics business in the Breede Rivier region , also forms part of the partnership. Their business, called Manyolo Aquaponics, supplies vegetables to restaurants in the region.

In conclusion, Mr Manuel Jackson, project manager from Stellenbosch University Water Institute, and Mr Hans Nijhoff, project manager from MSM, thanked all the delegates for their participation in the seminar and support for the project.

Internationally recognised economist and expert in rural development and global food security, Dr. Uma Lele shared a global perspective on the challenges faced by Sub-Saharan Africa in agriculture and rural development, at the 2nd Annual Mohammad Karaan Memorial Lecture. The annual lecture is held in honour of the late dean of the Faculty of AgriSciences Professor Karaan at Stellenbosch University (SU).

Dr Lele’s presentation touched on several pressing issues related to global food security and the challenges facing the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, she highlighted the devastating impact of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has led to the largest humanitarian disaster in recent history, the migration of millions of people, and a surge in food and commodity prices. The conflict has also diverted attention and resources away from efforts to end poverty and hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

She noted that the current global food and nutrition challenge is far more complex and difficult to tackle than anticipated in 2015, and that reaching the Sustainable Development Goals under “business as usual” is unlikely.

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened existing challenges, particularly in vulnerable regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where progress in moving away from agriculture has already lagged. The pandemic has also led to a rapid dietary transition, with a significant increase in the consumption of cheap, unhealthy food, contributing to the rise of obesity and non-communicable diseases.

She also identified political instability as a significant contributor to food insecurity and poverty in Africa. Instability often leads to conflict, displacement, and disruption of markets and agricultural activities, causing food prices to soar and making it difficult for farmers to access inputs and markets. Addressing political instability in Africa is therefore critical to achieving food and nutrition security and reducing poverty in the continent.

“To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we need to tackle the issue of malnutrition in a comprehensive manner, addressing both the supply and demand for nutritious food. This will require significant investment in production and trade to ensure a steady supply of affordable, healthy food. It is equally important to focus on creating employment and increasing incomes for the poor, educating consumers on healthy food choices, and developing efficient and low-cost value chains. We must invest in physical infrastructure to increase effective demand for nutritious food. However, we must also be mindful of food safety regulations, ensuring that our efforts to improve access to nutritious food do not compromise the health of consumers,” said Dr. Lele.

Moreover, there was an emphasis on the importance of structural transformation, which involves a decline in the share of agriculture in GDP and employment, total productivity growth, demographic transition, and overall income growth. Poverty is concentrated in rural areas, highlighting the need for structural transformation efforts to prioritise the development of rural economies and communities. Investment in agriculture and productivity growth is necessary to support sustainable economic development and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Overall, the presentation underscores the urgent need for comprehensive action to address the complex and interrelated challenges facing in global food security and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Political instability, global warming, the impact of COVID-19 and the challenges of supply and demand for nutritious food and structural transformation require immediate attention, and the need to invest more in agriculture, education, and health in order to build a strong economy.

“Regarding the diffi​​​​​​culties in rural development that governments and farmers face on a global scale, Dr Lele’s insights are priceless. She provided workable solutions to these problems. Institutions, governments, and the private sector should seriously consider implementing these solutions. Disregarding her advice would be our own peril.” Says Professor Andre Jooste, Head of Agricultural Economics at SU.​

Dr Wiseman Ndlovo, Ms Deborah Vorhies and Prof Francis Vorhies, AWEI Director in conversation during the African Food Dialogue recently.

Ways of including animals and plants into the food system while still supporting conservation were discussed at a recent African Food Dialogue panel discussion at Stellenbosch University (SU). The event was hosted by the SU Faculty of AgriSciences and the Southern Africa Food Lab.

Team members of the African Wildlife Economy Institute (AWEI) hosted by the SU Department of Animal Sciences served on the panel. The discussion, with interesting questions form the audience afterwards, was facilitated by Prof Kennedy Dzama, Distinguished Professor in Animal Sciences and Deputy Dean for Research, Postgraduate Studies and Innovation in the Faculty of AgriSciences.

“At AWIE we have this vision of Africa surviving and thriving through the sustainable use of its nature. We see landscapes that survive and thrive and are conserved by being used to create inclusive economic opportunities, social well-being, respecting the people that live there and supporting them,” said one of the panelists, Ms Deborah Vorhies, who is also interim Chief Operating Officer for AWEI.

AWEI Director Prof Francis Vorhies discussed the use of wild species to conserve areas, while Dr Wiseman Ndlovu, a postdoctoral fellow at AWEI, elaborated on the markets available for sustainable wild animals. Ms Vorhies, who also serves as CEO of a standards and certification programme for wild plant products, FairWild, discussed how a market for related products can be created through their certification as sustainably harvested products.

Prof Vorhies believes it is not enough to only keep wildlife within protected areas and fund their conservation through so-called “photo tourism”, wildlife viewing and to a lesser degree through hunting tourism. Such approaches do not create an inclusive economy based around the use of wildlife for livelihoods.

“There is more to it than just living next to nature. We must also learn to live with nature. The use of wild resource for food to benefit people is a priority, an opportunity and a reality,” noted Prof Vorhies, an extraordinary professor in the SU Department of Animal Sciences and a distinguished academic with international experience in conservation economics and finance.

Prof Vorhies highlighted international policies and discussions that are guiding the wild foods sector in Africa. He explained how the recent Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in Montreal in late 2022, launched “a new global biodiversity framework” with a commitment to the “sustainable use of wild species.” within the context of trade across Africa, and globally. It ties into programmes on sustainable wildlife management and biotrade under the Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

He indicated how the outcomes from Montreal affirmed the policy of the conserving wildlife through sustainable use for human benefit.

“There was a strong endorsement of the use of wildlife and the creation of wildlife-based businesses for livelihoods and for food. Explicit mention was made of food security, and how wild harvesting for food can be used to mitigate climate impacts and other environmental concerns.”

“That’s important, because many people in the conservation sector where I come from into the space of wildlife economy often think that the only way to save nature is through protecting it from people, e.g., through protected areas.”

Prof Vorhies believes that the wildlife sector can learn much from the fisheries industry, which allows both big players and members of the public to participate in activities, depending on the quotas set.

“Fisheries are in effect a form of wild harvesting, of aquatic hunting, where food is gathered from the wild.”

He said that in North America, millions of Americans and Canadians harvest everything from wild mushrooms and berries to wild animals. It is a major source of food in these countries, Further, a closer look is needed of the wild food opportunities within agricultural areas, because “not every hectare on a farm can be farmed”. Food can be collected from the wild areas in farmlands.

“This can be extended by scaling up the collection of wild food in protected areas too,” he believes.

He said in some areas “farming” with wildlife rather than cattle for food purposes might be better for ecosystems.

In some protected areas, some meat production is already happening. In Kruger Park, there is a game meat abattoir at Skukuza for processing game such as buffalo. Processing game in other parks, like lechwe in Malawi, is also being considered.

Such endeavors would enable protected areas to support the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN to combat aspects such as poverty and food insecurity. In other words, parks can be managed for food as well as for tourism.

“The globe is under strain because 8 billion people have to survive and thrive. And nature
must survive and thrive too, otherwise there will be nothing,” Ms Vorhies added in her discussion.

She continued by saying that the use of voluntary standards and certification that gives consumers assurances about the sourcing of products they buy are valuable tools in the wildlife economy. These could include assurances about whether products were harvested sustainably, contributed to the well-being of the landscape, or whether those doing the harvesting were respected and properly remunerated.

“We can never take for granted that all of these good aspirations will happen. We have to find mechanisms to make sure that they do happen.

“Such voluntary standards and private certification standards help to empower the consumer to make good decisions, and to connect with stakeholders who are part of the chain.

According to Dr Ndlovu, the sustainable use of wildlife is key to ensuring that wild animals do not go extinct.

An analysis of the value chain involved, like that of fresh produce, is important to make sure that there is a sustainable market available for a product.

“It’s about total quality management through the total sustainability and management of related animals or animal products.

“Most researchers focus mainly on the aspect of protection and conserving animals. At AWEI we look at things systematically to see how we can retain sustainability within the wildlife economy and throughout the entire value chain.”

Article by Engela Duvenhage