Page 9 - Demo

UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL FOUNDATION 7Professor Joyce Chitja, Director of the African Centre for Food Security (ACFS). food systems by placing communities at the heart of research and innovation. A transdisciplinary scientist and the first South African woman to earn a PhD in Food Security, she has long championed an approach that fuses rigorous academic inquiry with lived experience and indigenous knowledge.Her project, %u2018Empowerment of Smallholder Urban and PeriUrban Farmers for Improved Market Access and Food and Nutrition Security through Water Use Security in Agroprocessing%u2019, aims to improve livelihoods by providing targeted support to smallholder farmers %u2013 particularly women %u2013 in vulnerable urban spaces. The initiative leverages innovative agro-processing techniques, sustainable water use practices and localised capacity-building to generate real-world impact.Speaking on the importance of this work, Chitja noted, %u2018Food security challenges are most acutely felt at the local level. If we are to nourish communities and strengthen their resilience, our research must start, not end, with them,%u2019Chitja%u2019s passion for agricultural science and sustainability was cultivated early in life. Raised by a grandmother who practiced traditional yet effective farming techniques like intercropping, food preservation and soil conservation, Chitja found inspiration in her grassroots science long before encountering it in textbooks.%u2018Watching my grandmother%u2019s translation of basic science into real-life solutions inspired me to choose a career in science,%u2019 she said. %u2018That early exposure shaped my values, and my career has been about honouring that legacy.%u2019She has since risen through the academic ranks at UKZN, earning a BSc in Horticultural Sciences, an MSoc.Scie in Community Resource Management and her groundbreaking PhD in Food Security. She overcame considerable challenges linked to race, gender and age along the way, emerging as a fierce advocate for inclusivity in science.At the recent Committee on World Food Security (CFS) gathering in Rome, themed %u2018Nourish to Flourish: Strengthening Resilient Food Systems from Community Roots to Global Governance%u2019, Chitja co-led a panel discussion with Professor Jan Swanepoel of the University of the Free State. Their message was clear: universities must embrace community engagement as a strategic imperative if they are to produce research that truly matters.%u2018Community engagement is central to how we at UKZN approach food security challenges,%u2019 Chitja told the global Launch of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Centre of Excellence at the University of Pretoria, of which UKZN is a part. Professor Joyce Chitja (centre) with Dr Qinisani Qwabe (left) of Nelson Mandela University and Professor Brunella Morandi (right) of the University of Bologna in Italy.